The famous pedunculate oak at the Riegmeer business park in Hollandscheveld has a chance to win the title Tree of the Year. The ancient tree became the center of protest last year because it would have to be knocked down. Protesters put a stop to that and managed to avert the end of the oak. “What a surprise,” responds campaigner Geertje Loof.
The protected tree, about twenty meters high and almost a century old, was in danger of being cut down to allow for the construction of an electricity station. That station is necessary if new companies want to establish themselves on the site in the future. At the beginning of this year, the local GroenLinks party started a petition to prevent the imminent felling of the oak tree, various political parties asked questions about it and a protest song was even written about it.
With success, the municipality of Hoogeveen decided that the tree can be spared. Not at the current location, but about 250 meters away. Because of that tumultuous history, it has now been nominated for the Tree of the Year election. One tree from each province is nominated with a unique story.
The jury of De Boom van het Jaar chose the tree in Hollandscheveld from six applications from Drenthe, such as the ancient oak of Beilen, a 130-year-old maple near the castle in Coevorden, a chestnut tree in Emmen and two beech trees in Gasselternijveenschemond and Gieten. “It’s not about the oldest or thickest tree, but about the tree with a special story,” explains Marlies Kolthof of the organizing foundation SBNL-Natuurfonds.
According to the jury, this tree is an excellent example of how involved people can be with a tree and how it can bring people together. “Trees are very symbolic. They express an emotional value, unlike a bush. They often outlive us. What the lion is in the animal kingdom, the tree is in the vegetable kingdom.”
Geertje Loof is amazed at the nomination of the oak tree for which she devoted herself with heart and soul as Hoogeveen climate mayor. “I don’t know if it’s the prettiest tree in the world,” she says. “But it is a special tree with a very long and special history.”
Due to its protected status, the tree could not simply be cut down for the construction of the electricity station and the municipality of Hoogeveen had to apply for a permit for this. “Everything has been trimmed further there, but this tree remained standing. I believe that is not for nothing. There is a reason for that.”
According to her, this tree symbolizes what civil resistance can bring about. “The municipality said: ‘That tree must go’. I said: ‘It will remain standing’. Nature has no voice, we are that voice. Actions, resistance and making your voice heard as a citizen can still take you further.”
The election is part of a European competition: European Tree of the Year. The Dutch winner competes for that title.