Wise trees

Goals

Strategic goal of the WISE TREES project is to establish long-term cooperation amongst historic and botanic gardens (HBGs) found in the Slovakian-Hungarian border region in order to improve garden tourism, which plays a key role in the area as there are more than 60 gardens open to the public.

Our project focuses on ancient („wise”) trees living in these gardens. The Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens (HAABG) and the National Trust of Slovakia (NTS) together establish new services to support gardens in the conservation, examination, maintenance and introduction/ promotion of aged trees. The project also helps people living in the region and tourists to find, to learn about and to fall in love with trees and the gardens where they live for at least 100 years.

Introduction of the partnership and benefits of cooperation 

The Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens (HAABG)  is for a long time dealing with the same topics as our organisation The National Trust of Slovakia.  In the past we have been already following the activities of various Hungarian organisations dealing with the topic of historical parks and gardens and ancient trees.  Many historical parks and gardens from Hungary and Slovakia belonged to the same nobleman families or were established by the same landscape architects and gardeners. A lot of information about those historical parks, gardens and trees can be found in archives in Budapest or in Bratislava (on both sides of the border). This is why we were very pleased by the possible co-operation with our Hunagarian partner.  Mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences, common thinking on solutions and tools best used in practice in management of wise trees are very important benefits of cross-border co-operation.  We believe ogether we are more effective in savin gand managing our common heritage  strenghtenning the crossborder cohasion in filed of heritage  management and eco tourism.

Activities

To achieve these goals, capacity buildings are also needed for these organizations that have already supported and consolidated cca. 110 gardens nationwide and have been operating for more than 20 years. Special equipment will be purchased to measure and examine the health condition of trees, and management plans will be prepared for tree individuals in historic and botanic gardens.

After thorough data collection, 80 ancient trees will be examined, 10 of which will receive professional treatment (rehabilitation) with the involvement of arborists (tree care professionals), according to the dendrological knowledge and dendrophilic approach of the partner organizations.

We celebrate the renewal of 1–1 trees with a one-day cultural festival, along with locals and tree lovers. Visitors can enjoy the exciting history of 10 selected trees with the new Audioguide App, developed by NTS. The database and videos form the basis of the WiseTrees dynamic website, elaborated by HAABG, where people can plan a trip to a chosen tree, according to their personal preferences. This will be the first page where you can individually search for gardens and wise trees based on different tourism service needs.

Maintainers of the gardens are invited to our new training about the care and management of wise trees. We invite tourism professionals and journalists on study tours to establish a partnership to preserve and promote these attractions.

Project partners:

Lead Beneficiary: Hungarian Association of Arboreta and Botanic Gardens (HAABG)

Slovakian Partner (Beneficiary 1): National Trust of Slovakia –  Národný Trust n.o. (NT)

Budget:

EU contribution from ERDF - 165 569,80 Euro

Supporting program:

Slovakia-Hungary Cross Border Cooperation Programme (Interreg SKHU) https://www.skhu.eu/

4. - Enhancing cross-border cooperation of public authorities and people living in the border area

4.1 - Improving the level of cross border inter-institutional cooperation and broadening cross border cooperation between citizens.

4.1/2 - Development of new cross-border services

Partners

Contact

Mrs. Michaela Kubíková - project manager and co-ordinator

kubikova@nt.sk   

+421 907 296 724

Mrs. Jana Fedurcova - project assistant

j.fedurcova@nt.sk

+421 914 171 856