Presented by the NGO Forests without Borders in collaboration with the Biodiversity Foundation, these awards have distinguished seven outstanding trees and forests in the Spanish territory.

Presented by the NGO Forests without Borders in collaboration with the Biodiversity Foundation, these awards have distinguished seven outstanding trees and forests in the Spanish territory.

The Tree and Forest of the Year Awards ceremony took place on Friday, November 19, in the Assembly Hall of the Ministry of the Environment, Rural and Marine Affairs, and was attended by the athlete Nuria Fernández (current European champion of 1,500 meters), as Godmother of the Awards; the Director General of the Natural Environment and Forest Policy of the Ministry of the Environment, José Jiménez; the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, and the president of Forests without Borders, Susana Domínguez.

The event was also attended by the general director of nature conservation of the Xunta de Galicia, Ricardo García-Borregón, and the actress Maber Rivera, ‘Goya’ award for her role in the film ‘Mar Adentro’.

The jury of the Awards was made up of a committee of experts professionally and/or academically linked to the forestry world, who have independently and autonomously reviewed the candidatures submitted and have established the final list of the winners.

They have distinguished the tallest eucalyptus in Europe (Abuelo de Chavín), an oak tree over 600 years old (Encina de Ambite), the elm of a historic town in Toledo (Olmo de Layos), a well-kept Valencian mulberry tree (La Matriarca), the southernmost beech forest in Europe (Hayedo de Montejo de la Sierra) and an emblematic chestnut tree (Castaño Santo). The Category of Threatened Forest recognizes the fight against aggressions suffered by the Souto de Santa Eufemia, in the province of Lugo.

The amount of the prize (2,000 euros for each of the established categories) must be allocated, in all cases, to the improvement of the conservation and knowledge of the winning specimens.

In this 2010 edition, 57 nominations were received. Galicia has been the Autonomous Community that has submitted the most trees and groves to the competition (a total of 12), followed by Castilla y León (11 specimens), Catalonia (9), Madrid (8), Castilla la Mancha (4), Canary Islands (4), Valencia (3), Murcia (2), Cantabria (2), Asturias (1) and Andalusia (1). Of the six categories into which the Awards are divided, the Tree and Emblematic Forest has been the most popular, with 20 nominations.

To learn about the trees and groves recognized on this occasion, click here.