Spirit of the Trees 2012

Some of the youngest athletes who travel across the world to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London are just 13 or 14 years old right now and no doubt they are working hard to develop their capabilities to reach a peak for the event. It's unusual to have such a clear landmark and goal five years in the future, and we thought it might help other young people to focus that far ahead.

That's how the Spirit of the Trees 2012 project came into being. It's a simple idea - can we inspire pupils and teachers in 2012 schools to plant 2012 trees (at least) by the start of the Games in 2012? By helping children think years ahead, Colette Cotton, project coordinator, hopes:

"Children might become more aware of the need for ecological sustainability and for all nations to work together in the spirit of unity and friendship and tolerance that is fostered by the Olympic Games."

Well, we've made a small start with schools in Germany, Finland, Italy, Nigeria, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and UK.

The pupils and staff of Al Rafaa Independent Girls School in Doha, Qatar planted their palm tree and pupils from the school participated in the welcome ceremony for their own Asian Olympics held in Qatar in December 2006.

At the same time their SchoolNetGlobal link school, St Mary's , Folkestone, England planted three Silver Birch trees and the Year 2 children in Dundee High in Scotland, the children from Litton School in Derbyshire and St Ursula's in Bristol followed soon after.

"We planted silver birch trees in our school field. Our link school in the Philippines has planted a tree for every one in our class, that is 32 trees. They are trying to replant lots of the trees that have been cut down, so that rice can be grown. As there are not so many trees in the Philippines it is causing mudslides to happen when it rains." - Christopher, 10

Pupils from Scuola Elementare G. Verdi - Salorno (IC Bassa Atesina) Italy, ventured into their natural park of 'Monto Corno' and planted young pines and firs, helped by pupils from their link school in Germany, their teachers, the park rangers, the mayor and members of the local council.

Friends Claudia Slujitoru and Daniela Joghui both teach in Unirea National College, in South Eastern Romania. Their 14-18 year old students, who participate in International Projects with schools in the Philippines, Finland, Spain and the UK, gave other project members a glimpse into their ancient customs which include dressing up in tree bark..

In Nigeria the students of the Community Secondary School from the Akwa Ibom region in the Niger Delta had to overcome considerable difficulties to publish their work online - as few schools in Nigeria have internet access, they had to travel a long way to use the nearest Internet Cafe! Writing in excellent English, their second language, they show quite remarkable appreciation of the place of trees in their lives.

"Mango is a fruit tree that is quite tall. There are Grade 1 and Grade 2 types of Mangoes. Mango buds and blossoms mostly during the dry season (Hamarttan). Raw mango fruit is green and turns yellow when ripe. It takes about three months for mango to ripe. Ripe mango can drop on its own or be plucked. If one's mango fruit drops you can pick it and eat, no problem, but you don't pluck it without the permission of the owner. The bark of mango is used as medicine to treat Malaria and the leaves given to goats as fodder. Dead parts of Mango are used for firewood. Stems of big Mangoes can be sawn into planks for building houses.

There are many Mango trees in my School. They also beautify the School premises and serve as wind break. Mango is propagated by the use of seeds as planting materials. I prefer eating Grade 1 Mango to Grade 2 because it is sweeter and has weak fibres that cannot hook on my teeth as the Grade 2 would. This is off season for Mango; otherwise I would send some fruits to you, if you wouldn’t mind eating our Mango." - Esther, 15

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