Tree of the Year 2020

Organized since 2011 by the magazine Terre Sauvage and the Office national des Forêts, the contest of the Tree of the year rewards each year French trees for their aesthetic, biologic and historic qualities but also for the link between the group of people or the person who proposed that tree to the tree itself.     For this 9th edition, the winners of the Tree of the Year 2020 competition are the black poplar from the village of Boult-sur-Suippe in the Marne department for the Prize of the Public, the common beech from Chavagnac in Neussargues-en-Pinatelle in Cantal for the Jury Prize and the ginkgo biloba from the Botanical Garden of Tours in Indre-et-Loire for the Jury “Coup de cœur” Prize.   This year, the public voted in number with a record of 32,766 votes. The black poplar of Boult-sur-Suippe, nicknamed “La Pouplie”, alone collected 6,344 votes, or nearly a fifth of the total votes cast in favor of the 14 candidate trees. And this is not without reason since “La Pouplie” is one of the most remarkable black poplars in Europe, as evidenced by its extraordinary dimensions: more than 11 meters in circumference and a height of around 40 meters. This tree is even more remarquable by its location in Champagne, within a plain landscape where majestic trees are rare.   To continue to support this multi-centenary poplar, go to the European Tree of the Year 2020 competition website from February 2021.     Visual 1: Boult-sur-Suippe black poplar, Public Prize 2020 © Emmanuel Boitier   Visual 2: Common beech from Chavagnac in Neussargues-en-Pinatelle, Jury Prize 2020 © Emmanuel Boitier   Visual 3: Ginkgo biloba from the Botanical Garden of Tours, Jury’s Favorite Prize 2020 © Emmanuel Boitier