Nina and the Neurons Go Eco
Last tree planted at Geordie’s Wood
Swapping the lab for the great outdoors, Nina will be joining the children of Muckhart Primary School on Friday, 2 May, to celebrate the creation of new native woodland at the Woodland Trust Scotland’s site Geordie’s Wood. They will be planting the last tree on the site, marking the end of an eight year woodland creation project in Glen Devon.
The event is the culmination of a week long schools planting event. Local schoolchildren have been on site helping create new woodland at Geordie’s Wood. In addition to the tree planting, the children have been entertained by a puppet show, The Man who Planted Trees, performed by the award winning Puppet State Theatre. The show tells the Jean Gino’s story of the tree-loving shepherd, who single-handedly transforms an entire region by planting thousands of trees.
Like the shepherd in the story, the children will have helped to create an area of native woodland. Over the last eight years, 1.5 million trees have been planted in Glen Devon, transforming former grazing land into a thriving new woodland, which will provide a home for a whole host of wildlife.
The tree planting is part of the Woodland Trust’s Tree 4 All campaign. The biggest ever children’s tree planting operation aims to involve one million children in planting 12 million trees across the UK - the equivalent to one tree for every child under the age of 16. It is hoped the event will increase young people’s understanding and appreciation of trees and woodland, ensuring their enjoyment and woodland protection for future generations
Andrew Fairbairn Development Manager said: “We would like to thank the BBC Scotland and Nina for their support for the project at Geordie’s Wood. We hope events like this will inspire a new generation to care about woodland. It should be a truly memorable experience for all involved.”
The project at Geordie’s Wood has been funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage, Biffaward and BP through the Scottish Forest Alliance.
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Notes to editors
For media enquiries contact: Jacqui Morris on 01355 578777 or mobile 07979 706675 or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust: The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres).
In 1984, the Trust acquired its first wood in Scotland. Today the Trust owns 80 sites across Scotland covering 8,500 hectares. Further news can be accessed via www.woodland-trust.org.uk
Geordie’s Wood: Geordie’s wood is a 235 hectare area of improved grassland, rough hill grazings and exotic conifer woodland. It was purchased by the Woodland Trust in 2004, with the support of the BP funded Scottish Forest Alliance (SFA) project and the active support of the local community, for the purpose of working with them to create a mosaic of new native woodland and open ground habitats to promote public access. It is located near Muckhart, by Dollar, 15 miles southwest of Perth on the southern edge of the Ochil Hills.
Nina and the Neurons: Nina and the Neurons is a series of 15 minute programmes made by BBC children’s Scotland for Cbeebies, aimed at the 4-6 year old age group, focusing on the five senses. Nina is a neuroscientist who travels from her lab at the Science Centre to meet children (The Experimenters) where she helps answer questions that really matter to them through a series of fun experiments.
The third series transmits on Cbeebies on Friday 13th June 2008 and this time its going Eco! Each programme in the 10 part series has an eco theme, with our Experimenters asking questions such as “Where does our rubbish go?” and “What are trees for?”
Scottish Forest Alliance: The Scottish Forest Alliance is a conservation project uniting BO, Forestry Commission Scotland, the Woodland Trust Scotland and the RSPB. The alliance has been working to create new native woodland, promote biodiversity, encourage community involvement and discuss the role of forests in carbon sequestration.
