HOPES are hanging on a Scottish rowan as voting opens to choose the European Tree of the Year.
Supporters hope the symbolic tree can be the woodland equivalent of Lulu in a European contest.
“The Survivor” Tree at Carrifran near Moffat is Britain’s entry in the European Tree of the Year competition – with online voting now under way for the month of February.
The tree won a public vote to be named Scotland’s Tree of the Year
in October 2020 and was subsequently chosen by The Woodland Trust to represent Britain in the European Tree of the Year competition, organised by the Environmental Partnership Association.
It was once the only noticeable tree in the entire valley and was adopted as a symbol by a community group which took ownership of the land at the turn of the millennium.
“Where one tree survives a million will grow,” became their mission statement.
That mission has now been accomplished through planting and natural regeneration, with the valley fully re-wooded and restored with more than 600,000 trees planted.
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