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Update
200 trees were selected as part of the competition for the most beautiful tree of the year, organized by the ONF and the magazine Terre Sauvage. They are now only 13 in competition. It is possible to vote on the internet until January 4.
An ash tree nearly 20 meters high, and whose trunk circumference exceeds 5 meters, proudly stands in the center of Vence (Alpes-Maritimes). For the inhabitants, it is he who must be the tree of the year 2021. “It’s great to see a tree like this, which is still intact after so many years”, says a local resident. This huge specimen is one of 13 trees selected by the National Forestry Office and Terre Sauvage magazine for the tree of the year. “It has a typical ash bark. You should also know that ash is one of the trees that absorb the most CO2”, indicates Marc Chaix, delegate for heritage and traditions of the city of Vence. The tree, 483 spring on the counter, was planted under François 1st, in 1538.
The tree which currently collects the most votes online is a gingko biloba, offered in Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) at the end of the 19th century by the Emperor of Japan. “It is a tree called fossil, which is an intermediary between conifers and deciduous trees”, explains François Heitz, head of the “trees” department at the Eurometropolis. Among the participants in the competition, there are many communities but also some individuals, such as Bernadette Sabathier, whose garden is home to a century-old holm oak over 20 meters high, in the Hautes-Pyrénées.