Brno, March 19 (CTK) – The foundation Partnerstvi has so far found five “Groves of Freedom” planted in acknowledgement of Czechoslovakia’s foundation in 1918, which it seeks in cooperation with the Lesy CR national forestry company, the foundation says in its press release on Monday.
“So far, we know of a Freedom Grove in Krenovice near Vyskov [south Moravia], which was planted by local school pupils in 1928. As of the same year, the White Hill near Semily [north Bohemia] was adorned by the “Harrachov Ten.” The figure ten, 100 metres in height and formed by grown larches, was created in celebration of the tenth anniversary of Czechoslovakia in place of a large blowdown,” Zuzana Septunova, the campaign’s coordinator, said.
The anniversary groves were not just planted between the two world wars, as attested by the anniversary grove in Kraslice near Sokolov, west Bohemia, which was planted during the Prague Spring in 1968.
The groves have been marked in a map on www.stromysvobody.cz.
The foundation is also searching for the “Freedom Trees” on the occasion of this year’s 100th anniversary of the establishment of Czechoslovakia. So far, it has allocated approximately 1,100. The historical records, however, point to thousands such trees, as they were planted in almost every village.
The foundation, in partnership with Lesy CR, intends to plant two new anniversary groves, in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Apart from that, Lesy CR will also plant 100 remembrance trees this October across the country, which will add to the symbolic number of 2018 of Freedom Trees that will be planted within national plantings on October 20-28 hand in hand with the local communities.
