The Secretary-General and founder of the Slovak NGO Servare et Manere Mr Marek Sobola handed the Servare et Manere highest award to Her Majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi, Shahbanou of Iran.
Servare et Manere is a Slovak non-governmental and nonprofit association in Žilina. The organization was originally founded to promote cultural and historical monuments in Slovakia, including their restoration and reconstruction. In the summer of 2022, Servare et Manere was granted a Special consultative status with the UN ECOSOC. Since 2018, following the establishment of the international Tree of Peace project, the main role of Servare et Manere is to support activities related to the development of peace and friendship at the international and domestic levels. Tree of Peace initiative is aimed at the preservation of historical memory, fostering ideas of peace and friendship among the nations, and spreading an ecological message by planting trees as a symbol of peace. The main goal of the project is to promote a message of peace and interfaith dialogue. So far, 33 Trees of Peace in 20 countries on 4 continents have been planted. The Tree of Peace initiative joins together two important issues of our time, the first being peace and the second the climate crisis.
By awarding the Tree of Peace Memorial Plaque, Servare et Manere expresses its highest gratitude to eminent personalities and governmental and non-governmental organizations who have contributed immensely to the spread of ideas of understanding, friendship, and unity among nations. Her Majesty Empress Farah Pahlavi, Shahbanou of Iran is a strong advocate of peace and deeply cares about the protection and preservation of nature.
During the inspiring and interesting conversation, both actors mainly discussed cultural topics as well as landscape architecture. The tradition and style of garden design and art represented by Persian gardens have influenced garden design from Andalusia to India and beyond. Since its inception, Persian garden art has tried to imitate the idea of the Garden of Eden. This historical garden heritage is very rich and has been preserved until today. That’s why up to nine Persian gardens scattered throughout Iran were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011! Marek Sobola, whose profession is landscape architecture, therefore brought the book “Parky a Sady v Žiline” (Parks and Orchards in Žilina) to Her Majesty as one of his gifts, of which he is a co-author.
Her Majesty also opened the topic of the possibility of implementing the Tree of Peace initiative in some African countries, such as the Kingdom of Morocco or the Arab Republic of Egypt, which has an extremely rich history, not only in construction but also in garden art. Africa is the only continent where not a single Tree of Peace is growing yet.