Forest Foundation

Forest Foundation – new programme launch

Forest Foundation is the third *YES programme to launch this year. It is a series of 8 week programmes connecting small groups of 12-14 year olds with nature through weekly trips and activities.

Some Forest Foundation groups will be for girls, others will be mixed.

Forest Foundation combines key elements of forest school and outdoor learning with practical conservation, ensuring valuable opportunities for the small groups to get to know each other, learn, have fun and work together.

Importantly, the Forest Foundation programme is also a great way for The Green Team to establish new partnerships with schools and other organisations across the city.

Girls lead the way

A group of 8 girls from St Thomas of Aquin’s led the way as The Green Team’s first Forest Foundation group which started in early February. This is a new partnership with the school and we are delighted to bring the group and school into the YES programme.

So far, the group have spent time outdoors getting to know each other, playing games, carrying out practical conservation tasks and learning outdoor cooking… S’mores galore!

The group are visiting key nature sites around Edinburgh including a recent visit to the Musselburgh lagoons where they cleared old tree tubes allowing a now established hedge to thrive. Last session they helped remove sycamore saplings from a beech woodland to allow the ground plants to thrive. After the school break they’re off to Holyrood Park to work with the ranger service there.

Our first Forest Foundation programme ends just before Easter. From there the girls will be able to continue their learning pathway with The Green Team with opportunities to join weekend programmes as well as the Skylarks advanced programme.