A Sychevsky maple is a natural monument of the federal significance

Several years ago, the residents of the Dugino settlement of the Sychevka District decided to revive the once legendary Park of the Panin Counts, which 200 years ago was considered the best one in Russia. A special attention of the villagers was paid to a long-living tree – a sugary maple. The Certification Commission of the national program "Trees - monuments of nature," which the villagers applied to participate in, recognized the Sychevsky maple to be one of the unique trees and gave it the status of a natural monument of the federal significance.

The Panin Counts became the owners of the Dugino estate in the Sychevka district of the Smolensk province in 1773. Then the estate began to flourish and it was constantly improved. At the time of the reign of Catherine the Great the park in the estate was one of the best in Europe. Nowadays there is almost nothing left of the estate complex, but the park is now in the center of the public attention. In addition to the sugary maple, which is of special historical value, there are rare and even unique for Smolensk region species of trees: a black birch, a Tatar maple, two species of exotic pines, Dutch, Hungarian and Caucasian limes, Canadian and Berlin poplars, five kinds a larch. The park has grown wild, but the main alleys can be traced. The care of the part is taken through the efforts of the teachers and students of the Dugino schools, who clean the park and make a catalogue of the unique trees that need special care.

The chairman of the Certification Commission, a member of the Council on the preservation of the natural heritage of the nation in the Russian Federation Council Sergei Palchikov, the co-chairman and head of the Executive Directorate of the Council on the preservation of the natural heritage of the nation in the Federation Council Vladimir Zotov, as well as other special guests visited Smolensk region to participate in the official opening ceremony of the natural monument. Together with Deputy Governor Olga Okuneva they took part in the All-Russian Smolensk stage of the relay "Trees - monuments of nature". According to Sergei Palchikov, 59 regions with 399 trees applied to participate in the program. The expert recognized as monuments only 79 trees.

As part of the festival program on the territory of the Panin Counts’ former estate a memorial plaque was set up, there was also a theatrical performance and a concert featuring art groups of Smolensk region. The opening ceremony of the monument ended with the natural history lesson at the Dugino secondary school.