Green youngsters turn to tree-planting
06/02/2008
TWO young East Midlands Housing residents have made their mark on the National Forest after planting trees in their name at the Sence Valley Country Park in Ibstock.
"We ran the competition as part of the Emerald Project which is our campaign to promote our environmental policy and raise awareness of green issues among our residents,” explained Jerry Sykes, Policy & Information Officer.Young residents were asked to write in explaining what they are doing to help their families be environmentally aware.
The winners chosen were Fred Parker (6) from Crich in Derbyshire, who helps his granddad compost kitchen waste, and Benjamin Jones (9) from Northampton who helps recycle tins, bottles and plastics and also walks to school every day.
The youngsters were given the choice of planting an oak, ash or birch whip - which is just a tiny tree - both boys chose oak, and then selected a suitable spot to plant it. There are only two planting sessions a year so over the course of the day there were hundreds of people arriving to add to the burgeoning forest.
Both boys enjoyed the session and are looking forward to coming back to the forest in the future to see how the trees are growing.
They each received a certificate thanking them and commemorating their contribution to the forest.
The latest tree planting brings woodland cover of the 200 square miles of the National Forest to almost 20 per cent, with more than seven million trees.
Since EMH launched the Emerald Project in June last year, around 100 residents have signed a pledge to do all that they can to protect the environment through ‘green’ initiatives including recycling, reducing waste and saving energy.