Other events in Baltic States

An oak tree growing in the middle of a football field in the town of Orissaare, Saaremaa Island, Estonia, received Monday evening in Brussels the title of the European Tree of the Year, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

NGO Chamber of Arborists chairman Heiki Hanso, at whose enthusiastic initiative the stadium tree collected nearly 60,000 votes on the Internet, received the award cup and said that he feels a bit of gloating joy over the fact that they won the title over many trees with dignified history that participated at the contest.

14 trees reached the finals of the contest, among others, the up to 1,000-year-old oak in Nottinghamshire, UK, under which, according to legend, Robin Hood hid himself.

Hanso hopes that the European Tree of the Year award to the 150-year old oak in Orissaare will bring lot of visitors to the tiny town. "According to current information, quite a lot of people come to see the trees, to take pictures and talk about it. The community tree brought the community together again," said Heiki Hanso.