Video: A 50-Year-Old Oak Tree Rescued from Felling at Construction Site

Oak tree was transported to be replanted using special equipment from Germany

In Tallinn on Laki Street, Scandium Kinnisvara replanted a 50-year-old oak tree that would have been cut down due to construction work. A unique patented machine from Germany was used to transplant the oak tree, which proved powerful enough for the task. The developer calls on others to recognize alternatives to tree felling and replacement planting.

You can find the video here! (author Freddy Jakobson)

Construction work on a new building will soon begin on the Laki 24/2 property. An oak tree, approximately 13 meters tall with a trunk circumference of 60 centimeters, was located in the construction area and would have been felled, with replacement planting then carried out at its expense on the property. Instead of felling, Scandium Kinnisvara called in a special patented machine from Germany to transplant the living tree. The tree was lifted out along with its roots, transported 15 meters away, and replanted in its new location.

Kalle Aron, Innovation Director and Partner at Scandium Kinnisvara AS: "Every tree that stands in the way of road construction, new development, or a building does not automatically have to mean felling and replacement planting, as has typically been the case in Estonia until now. It's true that the service of ordering a special machine from Europe that would be capable of lifting a large tree from the ground while keeping it alive is not the cheapest option. In our case, it cost 8,000 euros including transport. However, if there are multiple trees to be saved, the cost is divided among them and can sometimes be equal to or even less than the environmental fee paid to the city."

Technically, the ground was prepared before the machine arrived, a suitable location was selected where the tree could continue to grow for a long time, and it was ensured that other trees would not be damaged during transplanting. The special equipment first dug a large circular hole, then dug a similarly shaped hole around the tree and its roots, and lifted the tree from one location to another. The tree was immediately braced with cables and anchored to the ground so that the plant could properly take root in its new location in the coming year. After finishing in Estonia, the machine moved on to perform similar work in other Baltic countries on its way home.

"The operator of the transplanting machine said he has traveled through all of Europe with his patented machine. In our neighboring countries, especially in Scandinavia, great efforts are made to preserve large trees. For example, near a major development area in Norway, the machine operator had lifted 600 trees, planted them temporarily in an adjacent field during the construction period, and replanted them back in the development area a year later. Impressive! I hope we are moving in that direction in Estonia too!" said Aron.

Scandium Kinnisvara is a comprehensive Estonian real estate developer focused on developing complete living environments. Since 2021, we have been founding members of the Green Tiger cooperation platform. At Scandium, we strongly believe that our successors should also be able to pursue their dreams in a beautiful and clean environment, which is why we invest in finding environmentally respectful solutions in each of our developments. At Scandium, we develop living quality.