FEE / Learning about Forests

Tree planting at COP15 and the Roskilde Declaration


Four hundred children joined a tree planting day on 9 December 2009 in "Kings Forest" near the venue of the COP 15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event was arranged to underline the importance of the world leaders to reach a fruitful agreement for the future. Nobel peace prize winner and Patron of the UNEP Billion Tree Campaign, Professor Wangari Maathai, attended the tree planting event along with the Danish Minister of Environment, Troels Lund Poulsen, UNEP's Director of Communications, Satinder Bindra and the FEE Executive Board member Tegryn Jones.



Tegryn Jones held a short presentation on Learning about Forests (LEAF), which is financially
supported by Panasonic Japan. Since the beginning of this year a total of 264,000 trees have been planted by LEAF in 33 countries world-wide with financial support from Panasonic Japan. The participating countries have subsequently almost doubled these figures by contributing further funding - thus resulting in the planting of more than 500,000 trees. Professor Wangari Maathai encouraged FEE to keep on the good work! LEAF in turn showed their appreciation of her support by offering a spade as a present to UNEP.
Coinciding with the COP15 summit, the LEAF national operators met in Roskilde, Denmark, on 9-11 December to discuss future activities and possibilities for furthering sustainable education about forests. The meeting resulted in the drafting of the Roskilde Declaration:

  "The Learning about Forests (LEAF) Programme encourages children of the world to deal with the issues of climate change by adopting the principle and practice of sustainable development. LEAF will give children the possibility to act for a better climate and future by teaching them to:

- Plant trees
- Take care of trees and grow forests sustainably
- Use wood as a sustainable and renewable material

 We all have a responsibility for the future well-being of the planet. Small actions by many can lead to great change. As the leaders of the world gather at the COP15 with the task of agreeing to limit the impact of our lifestyle on the climate, the LEAF Programme encourages schools, children and their families to replant the planet for a greener future."
All 14 participating national operators signed the statement to highlight the ambitions of LEAF to
achieve practical results in the climate change debate.

For more information please contact:

International LEAF Coordinator

Bjørn Helge Bjørnstad

bhb@skogkurs.no