COP26: THE GLASGOW CHILDREN'S WOODLAND

7 October 2021 3 minute read

Trees for Cities is proud to support The Glasgow Children's Woodland, a volunteer-led initiative empowering 151 primary schools in Glasgow to use their voice ahead of COP26 and inspire world leaders to take action now!

In partnership with The Lost Woods, 17,000 new trees will be planted on this 13ha site that overlooks the city of Glasgow, giving the next generation a voice, calling for change at COP26 and leaving a lasting legacy for today’s and future generations to enjoy.

The trees will be planted between the 4th and 7th of October 2021, with children and teachers coming to this spectacular location to plant trees they have nurtured from thousands of oak seeds the previous year.

The Project

This project is the first woodland of its size to be planted in Glasgow for generations and is uniting children through their shared Scottish culture. Traditional culture unites people and communities across Scotland’s geographically diverse landscape, connecting all communities to nature and climate.

It is Scotland’s cultural links to Gaelic, Scots, and Doric and the incredible stories of the natural world these languages hold, that enable a wider demographic of people to become inspired by nature, to treasure it and feel enabled to take positive action at a critical time of discussions around COP26 - an event that will affect people and planet for generations to come and unite all generations globally.

I think the children will gain a huge amount from planting trees in this area. It is a great location for our health and wellbeing but also climate change which this project is also all about so we’re really, really excited.

Margaret Mags Sproat - Acting Deputy Head Teacher Glasgow Gaelic School

A MESSAGE OF UNITY AND ACTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE EVERYWHERE

Over 1,000 primary school children will come together as representatives of all communities across Glasgow, to use their voice and inspire and enable individuals, communities and world leaders to take action now! Through this project, each community will be represented through their local primary schools who are planting 13 hectares of saplings on the outskirts of the city, as the legacy to COP26.

This project will sequester nearly 6,000 tons of CO2 over its lifetime, encourage the planting and protection of more trees in our towns and cities, and enable and unite a new generation of young people to value urban nature and green spaces both here in the UK and around the world.

The thing I’m most looking forward to is that all the children of Glasgow are going to make a magnificent green space for future Generations and when we have children, we can tell them… we did that. Plus, going outdoors and planting trees is fun.

Eddie Murray - young person from Glasgow Gaelic School

FROM THE LOCAL TO THE GLOBAL

As well as engaging schools in Glasgow, this project also reaches schools worldwide, including Kenya and Rwanda. Together with the children of 'The Lost Woods', their concerns, hopes and ambitions for the future of our planet ahead of COP26 will be shared.

As part of the project's ongoing legacy, we seek to forge new international relationships with children and teachers around the world, using the power of education and shared goals that unite us all and do not know borders or boundaries.

The value our young people will get from this project and planting their trees and seeing them grow is that ability to be part of something... that ability to see themselves making a difference.

Rachel Binnie – Head Teacher Wallacewell Primary School

HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?

Take action below and add your voice to thousands of empowered young people across the UK and around the world - all wanting to make our towns and cities greener, happier and healthier places to live.

Donate to Trees for Cities and together we can help cities grow into greener, cleaner and healthier places for people to live and work worldwide.

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