INTERNATIONALER TAG DES BAUMES 2011
Ostermontag, 25. April, 2011

Der Urweltmammutbaum im Kurpark von Bad Nenndorf in Niedersachsen wird am diesjährigen Tag des Baumes als stärkster Baum Deutschlands gewürdigt. Der Festakt begint um 11 Uhr.

Die Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft und die Gesellschaft Deutsches Arboretum werden ihn gemeinsam als Rekordbaum, international champion tree, auszeichnen. Mit einem Stammumfang von 4,73 m in Brusthöhe (1,30 m Höhe) ist er der stärkste Baum seiner Art in Deutschland.

Der Urweltmammutbaum war zunächst nur als versteinertes Fossil bekannt, bis er 1941 in China als lebende Pflanze entdeckt wurde. Der Schnellwüchsigkeit der Baumart ist es zu verdanken, dass der Bad Nenndorfer Baum seine stattliche Größe erreichen konnte, obwohl er alles andere als uralt ist. Er wurde erst um 1950 gepflanzt.

Informationen zum Kurpark Bad Nenndorf: http://www.garten-tour.de

Am Internationalen Tag des Baumes,
dem 25. April 2010,

hat die Deutsche Dendrologische Gesellschaft den Ginkgo, Ginkgo biloba, im Garten des ehemaligen Ritterguts Dröschkau als bemerkenswerten Baum des Jahres gewürdigt.

Zahlreiche Besucher hatten sich eingefunden, als der Präsident der Gesellschaft, Herr Prof. Dr. PETER A. SCHMIDT, gemeinsam mit Repräsentanten der Stadt Belgern und des Landkreises Nordsachsen im Beisein vieler Dendrologen eine Tafel enthüllte, die folgenden Text trägt:

Bermerkenswerte Bäume
Champion Trees in Deutschland
Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) in Dröschkau 2010
Stammumfang 5,40 m, etwa 200 Jahre alt

Deutsche Denndrologische Gesellschaft und Gesellschaft Deutsches Arboretum
Rittergut Dröschkau

Am Nachmittag fand die Veranstaltung eine Fortsetzung mit der Führung durch den benachbarten Park Treblitzsch und der Pflanzung einer Serbischen Zwerg-Fichte, Picea omorica 'Treblitzsch'.

http://www.rittergut-droeschkau.de

The European Champion Tree Forum
Wespelaar Arboretum, Belgium, 23rd October 2010

By Christopher Carnaghan

For some fifteen years we have had limited and intermittent contact with a handful of fellow tree hunters from elsewhere in Europe, who found us through their interest in the notable trees of the British Isles. And through them we learned of organisations similar to our own, although it seemed that few were quite as focused as us on finding and recording all the finest trees in their countries, whether native or exotic. Surely, we thought, we would have much in common with our Continental confrères – not only knowledge and expertise but also our shared enthusiasm for finding great trees.

However it was not until 2008 that we started to search systematically for such organisations and enthusiasts. Some were easy to find but - even with the help of the
Internet - it took many months to locate others, especially those enthusiasts who seekand record notable trees on their own.

Mutually beneficial

Early this year we felt that we had made enough promising English-speaking contacts to plan a meeting, to get to know each other, to exchange information and ideas, and to discuss how we might co-operate in mutually beneficial ways. So we set about organising what we believe to be the first international meeting on notable trees in Europe, if not the world. (Please let us know of any others). And to give the meeting a clear identity we decided to call it the European Champion Tree Forum.

Tree hunters

We are grateful to Philippe de Spoelberch, founder of the Wespelaar Arboretum in Belgium and a keen student of notable trees, for inviting us to be the first users of its fine new Visitors' Centre. The meeting brought together some thirty five experienced tree
hunters from nine countries in northern Europe, each active in identifying, recording, photographing, and/or promoting the appreciation of notable trees in either a professional or amateur capacity. Several of them have created their own websites dedicated to notable trees in their own countries (or, in a few cases, to trees in several countries). Also present were members of the Wespelaar team and representatives of the Tree Register; David Alderman, Christopher Carnaghan, Maurice Foster, Colin Hall, Tony Kirkham, Thomas Pakenham and Roy Lancaster.

Our guests:

Belgium: Tim Bekaert, Koen Camelbeke, Christophe Crock, Guy de Broqueville, Philippe de Spoelberch, Marc Meyer, Abraham Rammeloo and Marc Struelens
France: Jean Francois Breton, Frédéric Cousseran, Olivier Colin and Jean-Francois Dewilde
Germany: Michael Dreisvogt, Detlef Ehlert, Gabrielle Glass, Lutz Krueger, Marcel Robischon, Dr Heinz Schirnig, Dr Ralf Tegeler and Dr Reinhard Weidner
Hungary: György Pósfai
Ireland: Aubrey Fennell
Luxembourg: Eike Jablonski
Netherlands: Martijn Essers, Nick Gordon, Frank Moens, Jeroen Pater, Jeroen Philippona and Bas van Griesven
Poland: Krzysztof Borkowski and Piotr Krasinski
Switzerland: Michel Brunner.

Great trees across Europe

David Alderman, our Director, set a fine pace and tone for the Forum in introducing the aims and activities of the Tree Register. Then came speakers from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Hungary, France, Switzerland and Ireland. (We'll be putting the full list on our website). Some presented the work of national societies or group projects while others talked about their own research and discoveries. There was plenty on recording and databases, and a wealth of splendid images, some familiar (great oaks in Polish forests) and others unexpected (massive black poplars in Hungarian
wetlands). Time being short this was clearly only a taster of the many great trees scattered across northern Europe.

General agreement

We closed with a brief review of what we had learnt about each others' groups, and listed topics of mutual interest – such as international databases, finding funding for research projects, helping to establish new groups in countries without them – that could set the agenda for future meetings. There was general agreement that these initial exchanges had been productive and enjoyable, and that we should remain in regular contact. As a first step we have established an email group to share information among those who attended the meeting and others who were invited but unable to attend. We really want this to be co-operative federal movement, started but not dominated by us, so that the next meeting of the ECTF will - we hope - be in another country and organised by another group. György set up and runs the champion tree register of Hungary on his own. His website is www.dendromania.hu (in Hungarian and English)

Extending our contacts

In future issues of the Newsletter we plan to introduce some of our new friends from across Europe, their activities, their websites and their societies. Meanwhile we will be putting links to them on our website. And we will be extending our contacts to other countries, notably in southern and eastern Europe. We know for example that Spain has very active groups and individuals devoted to recording and conserving notable trees, but our lack of Spanish means that we must find English speakers among them to permit easy dialogue. Please let us know if you could help us in this regard.