KCS Orchard - "Trees for the Bees"

TY Sustainability Team have planted a small orchard and a hedgerow below the new gym for their Eco-UNESCO Youth for Sustainable Development Action Project. It is also being entered into the Young Environmentalist Awards (YEA) Competition. All together eight apple, two cobnut (fruiting hazel) and forty-five native trees were planted including hawthorn, blackthorn, holly, spindle, elder, guelder rose and hazel. The hedgerow trees will produce flowers for pollinators and fruit for birds helping to increase the overall biodiversity of the school campus. The apple and nut trees will do the same as well as supplying students and staff with delicious fruit and nuts for eating fresh or for cooking every autumn. The soil had quite a bit of rubble in it so some topsoil was brought in and added. They had some help from other TY students to dig the holes and move barrowloads of topsoil, and two Erasmus groups from Poland and Sweden also helped plant some of the trees.

Additionally, the KCS Orchard team had a display at the school Eco Fair. They provided leaflets on their project to raise awareness around the importance of planting trees to tackle biodiversity loss in the school community. They also had samples of their tree samplings for students and staff to observe. The KCS Orchard team is through to the YEA semi-finals which take place at the end of March. The very best of luck with your semi final interview and well done on all your hard work.