A beautiful tree with an inspiring story. The contest alternates every year between Flanders and Wallonia, trees from Brussels can participate every year. After a round of open nominations by the public, the jury selects one tree per province. Thereafter the public votes to select their winner.
More than 10,700 people voted this year for their favorite tree. With the passionate support of its followers, L’Arbre de la liberté of Warêt-la-Chaussée, Eghezée (Namur, Wallonia) won the contest and was crowned with the title “Belgian Tree of the Year 2019”. This horse-chestnut tree was planted in 1796, by order of the executive board of Eghezée to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the "tyrant" Louis XVI and is known today as a beautiful symbol for freedom.
In 2019 the contest was organized in Wallonia and Brussels by the Walloon Foundation for Habitat Conservation and ELO, with the support of the Baillet-Latour Fund for the Environment. In 2020, the Belgian Tree of the Year contest will be organized again in Flanders and Brussels.
Website: www.boomvanhetjaar.be
Twitter: @BelgischeBoom
Instagram: treeoftheyear
