Lithuania’s oldest tree – the Stelmužė Oak – is at risk of falling. The tree’s deteriorating condition is said to be caused by improperly installed branch supports.
“At any moment, the tree may fall. It is also becoming dangerous for tourists. If you look at the tree, you can see that the cracks are getting bigger,” said Ramūnas Keršys, a guide from Zarasai district.
According to him, the Stelmužė Oak attracts the most tourists in the region. But its condition has started deteriorating after the installation of new branch supports.
“These supports do nothing for the tree and instead of protecting it, they only accelerate its decline,” Keršys said.
The local authorities asked the Aukštaitija Protected Territories Directorate to assess the condition of the oak tree in the spring of last year. The assessment concluded that the branch supports were inadequate, but the State Service for Protected Areas, which installed them, disagreed.
“They said that everything was fine but admitted that one of the supports had moved out of place. They said they would replace it after carrying out the procurement in the autumn. But nothing has been done,” says Simona Burokaitė, adviser at the Zarasai District Municipality.
The procurement did not take place because there was only one supplier who quoted a price higher than the expected one.
“While we go through the bureaucratic twists and turns and disputes about what to do with the supports, anything can happen,” Burokaitė noted.
The State Service for Protected Areas agrees that urgent action is needed.
“The Stelmužė Oak is like an elderly person, who really needs care. Experimentation would not be a good thing. I think there is always a way out. At the moment, our task is to do this quickly, to write a technical specification,” said Rūta Baškytė, a representative of the service.
Then, a public tender for carrying out the work will be announced, she said.
The Stelmužė Oak is about 1,500 years old, 3.5 metres wide, and 23 metres high.
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