History of National Tree Day

In 1594, the mayor of the Spanish village of Mondoedo hosted the world’s first documented arbor plantation festival. Later, in 1805, a man named Don Juan Abern Samtrés lived in the community of Villanueva de la Sierra, who recognised the importance of trees for health, cleanliness, decoration, nature, environment, and customs. He decided to plant trees on what was known and celebrated as Carnival Tuesday to make it more joyful – which is now known as Arbor Day.

After official ceremonies a large crowd planted the first tree — a poplar. There were celebrations, people fostered love and respect for the environment and encouraged all nearby towns to plant trees in their communities.

Arbor Day was first celebrated in Australia on June 20, 1889. Many states in Australia have Arbor Day, although Victoria has an Arbor Week, which was suggested in the 1980s. Australia decided to take it a step further by establishing National Tree Day in 1996, and since then the program has seen communities plant almost 26 million trees. How good is that!

Watch our little tribute to our love of trees below. Happy National Tree Day.