Activity 17 – ADOPT A TREE
In Activity 7 we mentioned Foresta 2000, BirdLife’s afforestation project at Mellieha. It’s an exciting project which aims to plant thousands of trees but it will also cost thousands of liri!
This activity gives participants a chance to sponsor and "own" part of the forest through a symbolic adoption which will help us carry the project through.
Action...
Discuss with kids how important trees are and how many things we get from trees, and not just the obvious wood and paper. Use facts about Mediterranean woodland.
- Discuss how over the centuries Malta lost practically all its forest cover, so now we have to help put some of it back. Explain about BirdLife’s millennium gift to nature: Foresta 2000.
- Show how a project like this costs money (see below). Introduce the adoption scheme. For a school rate of Lm5 (normal rate is Lm7), a class or individual can sponsor a tree and will receive a certificate of adoption. Organised as a class activity, this gesture will actually cost only about 20c per child.
- You may want to give further publicity to this scheme by asking one of your kids to tell the other classes about it during assembly. Don’t forget to use the Green Board!
- Collect the money and send it by cheque (payable to BirdLife Malta), together with the Feedback Form. Make sure to include the name of the individual or class who are making the adoption - this information will appear on the certificate which will be mailed to your school.
More if you like...
- If your class has made an adoption, you may call BirdLife to arrange for your class to visit the Foresta 2000 site, maybe even do some tree-planting on site. A volunteer on site will direct operations by the ‘foster parents’!
Points...
First adoption - 50 points
subsequent adoptions - 20 points each
Forests don’t come cheap
These are only some of the expenses we run into :
- Buying planting pots, compost, saplings, hand tools,
drip irrigation material
- Ordering water bowsers
- Hiring of machinery and contractors (for heavy duty
jobs like landscaping, trenching and laying of footpaths)
- Hiring personnel for wardening and surveillance of
site
- Notice boards, metal gates, fences etc.
- Development of infocentre
- Permits
- Leaflets, information, publicity expenses