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Amsterdam receives “European City of Trees“ 2012 award

Amsterdam receives “European City of Trees“ 2012 award branchevereniging Amsterdam has won the “European City of Trees“ award for this year. The city has been granted this annual award because it actively promotes trees in the urban environment through its policy, management and civil participation. The prize is an initiative of the European Arboricultural Council (EAC), the European branch organisation for arborial specialists, operating in 21 countries.

Jan Goevert, representing the European Arboricultural Council with a total membership of 21 countries, delivered an introductory speech. He explained that the EAC wants to recognize the special activities a city or council undertakes regarding trees and the arboricultural policy. The prize has been presented since 2007 and this year the special honour has been awarded to the City of Amsterdam. Goevert remarked on the green CharaCter of the city, the unique collection of elm trees that can be found in Amsterdam and the efforts the City makes to keep the environment green. In doing so, Amsterdam aCtively involves its citizens.

Aki Männistö, responsible for the green policy of the Finnish City of Turku, former award winning city, underlined the significance that the European City of Trees award has had for the image of his City and for arboriculturalists in general. The prize has helped to enlarge the awareness of the importance of green Cities, because they improve public health and the quality of the environment. lt has also contributed to the promotion of Turku as a green and attractive tourist destination. Männistö told the audience he was proud to hand over the award to Amsterdam, as it is a worthy successor of Turku.

As a councilman, Dirk de Jager works hard on keeping green his district in the City of Amsterdam. He emphasized the importance of a green urban area and the economic value it also signifies. A green environment is alluring and invites citizens to become involved in keeping their neighbourhood green. De Jager indicated that this award will incite Amsterdam and its inhabitants to continue working on a green city. He proudly thanked the EAC for this initiative and for presenting the European City of Trees 2012 award to Amsterdam.

Active tree policy

The City of Amsterdam is the recipient of the award because it has been planting trees in almost every street systematically since the l6~ century. This is partly the reason that the city Centre was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2011. But the City still holds an active tree-planting policy which makes Amsterdam into one of the most densely wooded cities of Europe (the City has same 380,000 trees; by comparison, Paris has 95,000), with same special and often monumental, very old trees. Nowhere else can so many elm trees (75,000) be found together in an urban environment. With intensive checking for the symptoms of elm‘s disease and resolute action where this was required, the council of Amsterdam was able to preserve this characteristic Dutch tree for the urban landscape.

About the Award

The European City of Trees Award has been established to promote arboriculture in Europe, by the recognition of innovative arborial projects with the aid of decent management, “best practice“ and sound education.

Branch Organisation VHG

On behalf of the Dutch arborialists, the Dutch branch organisation VHG for green entrepreneurs is a member of the EAC. The VHG acknowledges that trees play an important role in our environment. The cultivation of trees requires a very special dendrological knowledge and experience. Both the appreciation of trees and the specific knowledge required for taking care of them are under increasing pressure. In order to turn the tide, the branch Organisation VHG wants to create more attention tor entrepreneurs who are specialised in arboricultural care.

Note to the editor: For more information, please contact Marc Custers (secretary of the Committee tor arboriculturalists of the VHG), via +31 (0)30 659 55 50.

Picture: In this photo, Aki Männistö (at the right, representing the Finnish city of Turku) presents the certificate of the European City of Trees 2012 award to Dirk de Jager (an the left, Councilman for the city of Amsterdam District West).

More information: www.european-city-of-trees.com