“Tree of the year” contest marks its fifth edition with two new categories for participants nationwide

The category Ancient trees speak, which was piloted last year for ancient trees in Sofia, is now open to nominations of trees nationwide that have stood for over 100 years and keep alive the memory of an event or individual of historical importance for Bulgaria. In 2013 the winner by popular vote in Sofia was the Bezenshek oak tree, planted in Lozenetz neighborhood by Anton Bezenshek, Slovenian stenographer and educator who contributed heavily to the development of liberated Bulgaria.

The second new category is Our family tree, which invites stories about trees planted and cared for by young people – children or youth – accompanied by their grandparents. This category seeks stories of trees that, whether in a family garden or anywhere else – in the forest or any park space – were planted and touched by the shared care and efforts of multiple family members.

Although it is not a competitive category, this year the contest aims to attract anyone interested in another novel initiative – to collect poetry by Bulgarian authors that is dedicated to trees. Together, with the help of everyone who makes a submission, we can collect and popularize the ways in which Bulgarian peots have been inspired by our nature’s green treasures.

This year the contest welcomes also stories of trees that not only attract attention for their majesty and history, but also ones memorable through a funny anecdote.

Anyone with a memory or story related to a tree of personal importance can participate by sending these narratives and photos to tree@bepf-bg.org by September 14th, 2014.

The nominations will be assessed by a four person jury, who will select winner in the categories Young nature enthusiast, Tree of the future and Our family tree, and finalists in each of the categories Tree of the year 2014 and Ancient trees speak. These will participate in a month-long online vote in October 2014, and the winner in each category will be the tree with the most votes. The winner of the Tree of the year 2014 category will go on to the European level to compete against trees from other countries.

All nominations, with photos and narratives about the tree, can be followed via the contest facebook group where they will be published on a rolling basis.

The complete rules for participation in the contest are published on the EcoObshtnost Foundation’s webpage: www.bepf-bg.org .
This year the contest is supported by EcoObshtnost Foundation’s longstanding partners Adventure Net and National Geographic Kids Bulgaria, joined by Yatoto (www.yatoto.com) and the European Commission. Awards in the Tree of the Year 2014 contest include evaluation of the winning tree’s condition and a commemorative plaque for the tree, and for nominations in other categories – a voucher for a rafting adventure, subscription to National Geographic Kids Bulgaria, a tablet, board games and puzzles.

For more information contact Dima Koteva at tel. (02) 951 54 46 or 0878 67 42 98 or email tree@bepf-bg.org