Old-growth oaks live in Transcarpathia. In the village of Stuzhytsya, a 1300-year-old oak tree is still rampant. It is officially recognized as the oldest in Ukraine.
The trunk in the largest part reaches almost 10 meters. In the same village there is also «grandfather-oak». It has a girth of just over 9 meters. We learned about the unique trees of Ukraine and how they were preserved from the specialists of Uzhansky National Park, who take care of the oaks.
Mrs. Andreea is happily photographed near an oak tree, which is 25 times older than she is. The trunk of the old oak tree in Ukraine is 9.6 meters, the height is 25.
The unique natural attraction has been growing in the village of Stuzitsa in Transcarpathia for 1300 years. This oak tree is called «champion» here. Despite such an age of the trees, the Transcarpathians themselves do not always know about them. Andreea Yamalova from Uzhgorod learned about the ancient oak tree from a friend and decided to come with her family: «We decided to come and see it. I have never seen anything like this before. Very, very beautiful oaks. Very majestic. And alive and healthy. They will probably stand for a thousand years.
Very close to the «champion» is a grandfather oak. You can’t hug this tree, even if you really want to. It would take about six pairs of hands. This oak is about a thousand years old.
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It is slightly smaller in diameter than the «champion» — 9.1 meters, but taller — up to 30 meters. How these oaks lived so long on earth is difficult to explain, now only legends are preserved about it. But modern scientists know what should be done to make the unique trees grow further. Vasiliy Kopach, director of the Uzhansky National Park, advises to use a simple rural method: «don’t destroy them, don’t harm them! We carried out rehabilitation with the help of Czech volunteers-arborists (arborists are specialists who take care of and treat trees if necessary. — Ed.) grandfather oak and champion oak. So, from the grandfather oak was about 7-8 cubic meters of dry wood removed. For an oak tree it is not terrible. It wasn’t some disease that would spread to the entire 75 cubic meter oak. It was only dangerous because the dry branches could fall somewhere, God forbid, on somebody. So, we’ve revitalized, embalmed where necessary. And according to experts, our oaks will last for another half a millennium.
By the way, scientists advise to hug or touch old-growth oaks: these trees, they say, have good energy. Unique natural monuments, along with six wooden churches, one of which in Uzhka has recently been included in the UNESCO list of sites, are the tourist attractions of Velikobereznyansky district. All these exhibits of natural and cultural heritage are protected by the state.