The International Tree of Peace (Slovak: Strom pokoja, Russian: Дерево мира, German: Der Friedensbaum) is an international initiative that originated in Slovakia. The project, created on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, was initiated by landscape architect Marek Sobola from Žilina, Slovakia. The main goal of the project is to promote a message of peace by planting a Tree of Peace on every continent. The project is claimed to aim at planting trees around the globe to draw awareness to the global environmental issue and to enhance the solidarity of the humankind. The initiative, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, is implemented by Slovak NGO Servare et Manere which has a Special Consultative Status within the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (UN ECOSOC). The project's motto is "Let's make love the lifeblood of this world" ().
The World Map of Peace also World Peace Map, abbreviated to the Map of Peace, unites all individual Trees of Peace plantings into one global whole.
Background
World War I had an impact on Sobola's family. His great-grandfather Ondrej Sobola (Andreas Szobola) died on the Russian battlefield. Ondrej was born on August 7, 1880, in the village of Lalinok near Žilina (then Lalinek, Kingdom of Hungary). He was enlisted in the 15th Military Infantry Regiment and went missing in 1915. Ondrej died in an unknown place. He was officially pronounced dead in 1930, with an official date of death: December 31, 1918. The story of the author's family inspired him to memorialize the soldiers who died in WWI in unknown places without their names or identities. This international project Tree of Peace officially represents the Slovak Republic under the brand called “GOOD IDEA SLOVAKIA – IDEAS FROM SLOVAKIA”. The Trademark License is granted by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.
The World Map of Peace was created to unify the individual plantings of the Trees of Peace in different countries of the world and give them a clear goal: to involve as many countries as possible into the planting of Trees of Peace and thus gradually supplement the Map of Peace. The World Map of Peace was created symbolically on Earth Day, April 22, 2021 in Slovakia by a symbolic planting of a coniferous tree in Carl Gustav Swensson Park in Žilina.
The International Tree of Peace was founded in 2018 in Slovakia and its main goal is the promoting a message of peace through the planting of at least one Tree of Peace on every continent. The project was originally associated with the centenary of the end of the First World War. It has since evolved to having a more general focus of promoting ideas of peace and friendship amongst nations and spreading an ecological message through the planting of trees as a symbol of peace and remembrance with a respect to nature. The project is increasingly focused on sustainable development, one of the guarantees of sustainable peace. The tree planting as a symbol of growth and development points not only to the futility of military conflicts, but also to the senseless plundering of nature in all its spheres – on land, in the oceans or air pollution. Because also wars and riots bring great environmental burdens and destroy human destinies.
At the time of its creation there were 10 countries on the World Map of Peace: Uzbekistan, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Serbia, United States, Russia (by 2022), Poland and Austria.
Although the bearer of the idea of the Map of Peace, NGO Servare et Manere is a strictly apolitical organization, it has strongly condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Servare et Manere honours the ideas of peace and understanding between nations.
Symbol
The symbol of the Map of Peace is an evergreen tree, in botany also known as an evergreen plant (Latin binomial term sempervirens), thus such a plant which has foliage (needles) that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season. The evergreen plant has great connection and symbolism with a sustainable peace, which should not alternately “fall” and then “sprout” again like some deciduous trees, but should be as stable and continuous as evergreen plants thus always and still present.