Basanavičynės Conker tree, which won the Lithuanian tree of 2023 contest and is now trying to win Europe ‘s tree of 2024. This contest can in a sense be called the “Eurovision” of European tree competitions which is why on February 1st all Lithuanians are actively encouraged to vote and support their favorites: one person can vote for two separate trees.

TO VOTE

Voting Instructions

This year apart from the Conker tree of Lithuania’s National Museum there will also be 14 other contestants from countries such as Belgium, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Italy, The United Kingdom, Croatia, Poland, Latvia, The Netherlands, Portugal, France, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

As mentioned by the organizer of the contest VšĮ „Lietuvos arboristikos centras “ CEO Sigitas Algis Davenis, the contest is not simply a beauty pageant, the organizers search for a tree with the most interesting history and the goal of the contest is to show humanities close relation to nature and conservation.

The goal of the contest is to highlight the importance of old growth trees as something to be preserved and protected.

Basanavičynės Conker Tree: Planted by Basanavičius?

The Conker tree that greets visitors of Jonas Basanavičius Birthplace is truly impressive: at a height of 19 meters, a maximum width of 21 meters and a trunk of 3 meters. It is purported that the Conker tree may be approximately 200 years old.

The tree was there when Jonas Basanavičius and his family lived on the homestead. People say, that even during the times of the Soviet Union people would gather under the Conker tree, even when the homestead itself was no longer habitable. This was their way of paying homage to Basanavičius and expressing their patriotic feelings.

Jonas Basanavičius Birthplace Conker tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) can be seen by all visitors of this museum.

Voting Ends in Less Than a Month

Voting will take place till February 22nd in the website www.treeoftheyear.org. Intermediary voting results will be announced of February 8th and 15th.

The winner of Europe’s tree of 2024 will be awarded in a ceremony on march 20th in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Information about the contest can be found in Lietuvos Arboristikos Centras webpage www.arboristai.lt, Lithuanian National Museum webpage www.lnm.lt and Jonas Basanavičius Birthplace Facebook page.

About The Contest

The European Tree of the Year competition is organized by the Environmental Partnership Association, which unites six European environmental organizations and is looking for trees that have become an integral part of the community, its core. The organizers of the competition are constantly looking for new partners in Europe and aim to make the protection of trees recognized as local celebrities a topic of international discussion.

The European Tree of the Year has been collected since 2011. Trees of the year that have won national competitions take part in the competition. The best of them is chosen by hundreds of thousands of voters every year. Their activity determines which tree becomes the winner that year. Lithuania entered this competition in 2017, submitting the Stelmužė oak, which was chosen as Lithuania’s tree of the year 2016.