Přerov’s Rybářská tree avenue wins the tree avenue of the year 2012

“Over the past years there have been made attempts to remove all the trees of the tree avenue. The reason was that people from Povodí Moravy (Morava River Basin Management) claimed that the roots disrupt the riverbanks. However, most of the inhabitants stepped forward against felling of this circa 1700-metre-long tree avenue, which has served as a place for walks and relaxation since the beginning of the last century,” comments Adin Vyhlídka from Přerov on the reasons of the nomination.

Due to her full time-table the deputy of the public defender of rights and a former senator for the Přerov constituency RNDr. Jitka Seitlová, who also supports this questionnaire, couldn't attend. Seitlová says: “The initiative of Arnika, which awards the most beautiful tree avenues, brings to us and enriches our view of the environment, in which we live and which we should protect. The avenue trees are milestones of the road. They give us feeling of comfort and safety not because they make nice scenery. They become us and we become them. They have been part of our lives for centuries and it is worth doing all we can that it remains so in the future. I feel sorry, that I cannot attend this event due to lack of time. I support this initiative and I wish it will have the same success in the future. I am pleased, that the best tree avenue was chosen in my native region.”

“We are well aware of the dangers the tree avenue in Přerov is facing, and the more we appreciate the stand which the local people took, they showed by voting in the questionnaire, that they care about their roadside trees. Even though more historically important, older and interesting tree avenues were nominated, the thing which makes the Rybářská Tree avenue so special is the determination of the local citizens to defend the trees. We will now try to support and help the people from Přerov, so that this year's tree avenue could bring happiness to other generations of inhabitants of Přerov. In most of the cases, it is possible to find a solution other than cutting down healthy trees,” says the leader of the campaign Let's save the Trees Martin Skalský - the questionnaire is a part of this campaign led by the Arnika Association.

The winner of the photographic part of this competition, in which the jury chooses the most impressive photos and awards their authors, was the photo of the Linden Tree avenue near Kostelec, by Ladislav Dvořák. The second place took the Valdštejn Linden Tree avenue submitted by Iva Brožová, and the third place won the Ash Tree avenue near Rokytno – it was Helena Zelená Křížová, who made the photo. The best photographs were chosen by a jury, whose members were also the patrons of the contest: the writer Marie Hrušková, the journalist and host Přemek Podlaha or another partner of the competition, Petr Brynda from FotoŠkoda.

Arnika prepared something new for this year's questionnaire: there will be winning tree avenue chosen also for individual regions. The list of them can be found in the attachment of the press release. Valuable prizes await the authors of the winning photographs, for example gift vouchers for services at the Centrum FotoŠkoda, a new book Aleje: krása ohroženého světa about Czech and Moravian tree avenues by the writer Marie Hrušková and botanist Václav Větvička, which was published few days ago by the partner of the questionnaire the publishing house Mladá fronta, further a set of kitchen utensils from the company Dřevotvar, or Arnika's publications on trees. Up-to-date information concerning the questionnaire was continuously being published in individual districts by the Deníky from the publishing house Vltava-Labe-Press.

In this year's questionnaire the Tree avenues of the Year 2012:

·         it was possible to nominate tree avenues from 2nd July to 30th September;

·         there were 71 tree avenues nominated from all over the Republic;

·         it was possible to vote from 1st October to 30th November;

·         there were 676 votes cast for the winning Rybářská Tree avenue from Přerov;

·         there were 5 494 votes cast in the internet questionnaire;

Arnika has been monitoring the dangers to the roadside trees for several years. We initiated the petition “Let's save the trees!” which calls for a better legal protection of tree avenues and trees both in the open countryside and in the cities. Petition was supported by more than 30 thousand people. Also thanks to them the amendment of the law was passed, so that the exception was finally abolished, according to which the road builders used to be able to fell roadside trees without permission. Arnika also created the first countrywide statistics and pointed out that more than 100 trees disappeared from the roadsides in the Czech Republic in the past few years. In association with the Palacký University of Olomouc, Arnika created the first region-based database of tree avenues in the form of a travel map. Thanks to dozens of volunteers, hundreds of trees in several tree avenues were painted with reflexive stripes, which increased the safety of the motorists.

Press agent: Vratislav Vozník, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., tel. 222 781 471, 606 727 942