Today you are going to hear the story of the venerable sessile oak by the Nasalevtsi church. The tree is over 600 years old and hides centuries of history. Legends say that it is the protector of the community of the Nasalevtsi village, Tran Municipality, near the border with Serbia. It is true – through the years the oak has suffered many lightning bolts, thus saving the church and the people of the settlement. The latest history of the tree occurred when a Tran son-in-law – Penko Yankov, nominated it for the Tree with Roots 2016 national contest. Coordinator of the contest Alexandra Georgieva tells us more on its future:

“The oak was among many nominated for the Tree with Roots 2016 title. It was voted a winner online and so it had the privilege to represent Bulgaria at European Tree of the Year 2017. The Nasalevtsi giant faces 15 other trees from 12 European countries – Belgium, GB, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic. At the moment we take the 3^rd position, but there is plenty of time until the end of the contest. The vote’s deadline is March 1 and the number of votes over the last week will be hidden, in order for the element of surprise to be preserved. The winner will be proclaimed at the award ceremony, to be held in Brussels on 21 March 2017.”

Any tree may be nominated for participation in the Tree with Roots contest, if it has impressed us with its outlook or some legend. The organizers underline the importance of the tree’s history. At the same time even a sapling would be suitable for nomination if related to an interesting and moving story.

“We had exclusive sapling categories over the previous years, as we often receive the stories of people, who have recently planted one. There are many touching stories of kids that have planted their first sapling as well.”

Century-old trees are the ones most often nominated in the contest, as people tend to get most impressed by those – because they are a symbol of the community, with legends born on them and due, of course, to their impressive outlook. More than half of the contest’s trees are at least one century old. Oak, walnut and mulberry trees are the ones selected most often. We can’t deny their attraction. How does it all help for the restoration of Bulgarian trees?

“The idea of the contest was to make people think of the trees, to provoke them to look for interesting and precious samples, getting interested at the same time into their history. We can’t help, but start thinking and showing intolerance towards illegal logging. Trees in danger are often nominated for our contest. Thus the problems are voiced to the public and the tree is saved later on…”

When the Nasalevtsi venerable sessile oak tree wins European Tree of the Year 2017 it will receive a wooden wall panel, passed on to each following winner. At the same time it will receive the attention and care it needs and the community will get a natural landmark on Bulgaria’s tourist map.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev