Colston’s School: Plant Trees for Students

About:

The Converging World has been working alongside Colston’s School to deliver a tree planting initiative that is beneficial to both people and the planet, through educational and ecological objectives.

This initiative would not be possible without the generous involvement of the Society of Merchant Venturers (SMV) Social Enterprise Committee that has committed to £2.8K in donation funds to the cause.

100percent of these funds are going directly to TCW’s reforestation partners in India. There are currently 800 students across Colston’s Upper and Lower School. At £3.50 per tree, these funds will enable a tree to be planted on behalf of every one of these students.

By engaging a Bristol based charity with a Bristol based school, to plant trees in India, this initiative reflects the widely celebrated ‘think global, act local’ecological mantra.

 

Educational Objectives:

 

Our hope is that by planting one tree on behalf of every Colston’s student, we can foster a sense of personal connection amongst the students with reforestation in the tropics. In addition, facilitating a sense of empowerment by enabling these students to assume an active role in the fight to combat climate change.

Direct engagement from the students is essential in achieving these outcomes. Due to the covid-19 pandemic that has come to define this moment in time, TCW was not able to visit the school and deliver an in-person presentation to the students about the project. In light of this, we resorted to delivering the educational dimension of the project in the form of a video that would be shown to students during their assembly.

The student charity committee, made of up 8 students, came up with their own list of questions for TCW about the project and ecological restoration more broadly. These were answered over a video call in the style of an interview between the students and a TCW representative.

Allowing the students to come up with their own questions, based on their existing knowledge of the issues, allowed for an educational video that was tailored to the age cohort and ensured they got the most out of the experience.

 

Ecological Impacts:

Each tree planted is estimated to sequester 1.1tonnes of CO2 over its 100-year lifetime. The majority of which will take place in the first 20-50 years of growth.

By planting 800 trees, Colston’s School, in conjuncture with the SMV and TCW, will help sequester 880tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of balancing the carbon footprint of 166 UK citizens in 2020. In addition, these 800 trees will generate 8000 square meters of Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest (TDEF) cover – a forest the size of 1.5 football fields.

 

Overall Project Outcomes:

 We hope this successful pilot project can serve as an example going forward for further school involvement in reforestation and ecological restoration efforts across the globe.