First trees planted In Yorkshire Waters Children’s Forest
15/06/1999
The first trees of Yorkshire Water's "Children's Forest" will be planted today (Tuesday, June 15) by primary school children from Leeds and Bradford under the guidance of Prof Chris Baines, environmental campaigner, award-winning writer and broadcaster, and Dr Richard Wakeford, chief executive of the Countryside Agency.
And as the oaks and sycamores are placed in the ground at a seven-acre site on the
company's Esholt waste water treatment works, children from all over Yorkshire - and indeed the world - will be able to plant a virtual tree in a state-of-the-art virtual forest.
Yorkshire Water's chief executive Dr Kevin Bond said: "By combining nature with new technology we hope to capture the minds of children and encourage them to take greater responsibility for the environment in which they live."
The real forest, which is being planted for future generations, and its website counterpart are Yorkshire Water's millennium project.
The website uses cutting-edge technology and is based on the same concept as the
hugely-popular Japanese Tamagotchi cyber-pets - a children's craze which recently swept the nation - where the youngsters will be encouraged to plant, feed and prune their trees to prevent them from dying.
Found at www.childrensforest.com, it will also act as a valuable educational tool, providing facts and figures about trees of all shapes and sizes.
Yorkshire Water's Children's Forest is part of the nationwide "Trees of Time and Place" (TOTAP) campaign. It is being run in conjunction with the Countryside Agency, and is part of the Yorkshire and Humberside region's contribution to TOTAP.
Newly-appointed regional co-ordinator Phil Cookson, said: "The Children's Forest has been designed specifically to compliment the work being carried out in local primary schools as part of the National Curriculum. The beauty of this project is it gives children the opportunity to learn about the environment in a variety of practical, fun and interactive ways."
Following the launch, specially-designed teachers' packs will be sent to local schools for use in the classroom.
Children will be able to visit their trees in the Children's Forest at Esholt, or they can simply follow the progress of their personalised tree by surfing the information super highway.
After the project has been rolled out to local schools, Yorkshire Water plans to invite other organisations to become involved including Scouts, Guides, regional environmental and community groups.
