Overview of cross-trees web map

Cross-trees are an important part of our cultural heritage, about which there are written sources as early as the 17th century. Cross-trees were preserved and respected. In 2006, Estonia joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (adopted in 2003) and, as a result, has an obligation to protect living cultural phenomena. Cutting crosses into trees as part of the funeral customs of South Estonia, as a living tradition, has been included in the list of Estonian intangible cultural heritage https://rahvakultuur.ee/2020/03/28/vana-voromaa-matusekombestik/

Cross forests, usually coniferous or mixed forests, are located in the immediate vicinity of cemeteries or on church roads, i.e. on the edge of the forest between the village and the cemetery.

The Cross-tree web map is intended for those on whom the preservation of trees with crosses may depend. The map is important for local residents, who can verify whether the trees with crosses of their deceased loved ones have been included on the map. Clarifications about cross-trees can be sent using the "Feedback" button in the web map or by writing to the Environmental Board at the following e-mail address: [email protected].

Destroyed cross-trees and forests are displayed on the map as a shade of gray to remember their former existence.

To prevent cross-trees from being exposed to winds during forest management, a 50-meter-wide buffer zone has been marked around the cross-trees.

The data for the cross-tree map layer of the Land and Spatial Board, completed in 2016, comes from the cross-tree database compiled by Marju Kõivupuu in 2000 and from fieldwork carried out in 2015 in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment and the Environmental Board. The 2021 map layer has been supplemented with tips from local residents and data from the RMK heritage culture and the Hiite Maja Foundation sacred sites map.

The Environmental Board is working on specifying the information on crosses in cooperation with the Estonian Heritage Board.

The web map has been commissioned by the Environmental Board.