Author:
Marju Kõivupuu

Nature Talks "What are the tree crosses of forests and what role do they play in nature conservation today?"

At the February Nature Talks at the University of Tartu Natural History Museum, Marju Kõivupuu will talk about tree crosses of forests, their origins and characteristics. The event will take place on Thursday 9 February at 6 pm.  

During the Nature Talks, we will get answers to the questions of what tree crosses are and what role they play in today's nature conservation. Cutting a cross into the bark of a tree has been part of the Southeast Estonian funerary rites, which have been known in the past, scattered all over Estonia as well as among our closest neighbours, the Finns and Latvians. Elsewhere, the custom of cross-cutting at funerals has faded.

Today, it has survived only in historic Võru County, and so the memorial crosses have become a cultural heritage, a rare way of observing the religious relationship between man and nature. In the context of modern forest management in Estonia, ritually marked protected tree crosses help to preserve old forests and maintain the biodiversity of the area.

Marju Kõivupuu

Marju Kõivupuu (PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Landscape and Culture at the Institute of Humanities, Tallinn University, whose research interests include cultural heritage, culture of death and folk medicine, as well as human-nature (heritage-based) relations. She is an author of numerous academic and popular science articles and books, and is an advocate for the preservation and protection of good natural sites and tree crosses.   

Nature Talks "What are the tree crosses of forests and what role do they play in nature conservation today?" will take place on Thursday, February 9th at 6 pm at the University of Tartu Natural History Museum. Ticket 3€. 

The evening is organised by the Environmental Investment Centre.

 

Loodusvaatlejad vaatlemas

More than 10 000 nature observations were made in a 24-hour period during the Nature Observation Marathon

Metsavaimud masinas kujundus

Part of the exhibition "Enter Woodland Spirits" opens at the Natural History Museum on Friday, June 28th

Looduse loor

Guided tours of the “Veil of Nature” take place every week