The Tree of the Year 2020 was formally nominated in a ceremony on Saturday, August 29 and this year the tree is an oakleaf mountain ash (Sorbus hybrida) at Skógar in Þorskafjörður, the first of this species to be nominated.
The ceremony began with an address from Jónatan Garðarsson, chairman of the Icelandic Forestry Association. Next to speak was Halldór Þorgeirsson, representing the Baháʼí community in Iceland who own Skógar and have grown the forest there.
Hafberg Þórisson from the Lambhagi Plant Nursery, who sponsors the Tree of the Year, then presented Böðvar Jónsson, as a representative from the volunteers who have planted trees at Skógar, with a diploma and then Hafberg and Böðvar unveiled a plaque marking the tree.
Next the tree was measured, by Jón Ásgeir Jónsson from the Icelandic Forestry Association and Björn Traustason, from the Iceland Forest Service. The tree turned out to be 5,9 m in height, with a diameter of 26,5 cm at knee-height and 17,3 cm at chest-height, where the tree had split into two trunks.
Böðvar Jónsson then lead a hike through the forest. The ceremony formally concluded with refreshments.
The Icelandic Forestry Association nominates a Tree of the Year each year.
The Tree of the Year 2020.
