On the 11th of March 2023, our grade 6 students went to the Doi Suthep Nature Study Centre to celebrate the first year of the Young Forest Restorers (YFR) program by the Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU) from Chiang Mai University. There were about 80 students from the 5 schools including CDSC that joined the program this school year and also from 4 other schools who will join the program later this year.
Through the YFR program, the FORRU team provides a seed-collecting trip to the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, a tree nursery workshop and also tree-planting activities. This program was inspired by our CDSC Forest project which has been going on since 2019 in cooperation with FORRU and Watershed Management Unit Chiang Mai, and we are pleased to see more schools join the program to plant more trees for the future.
The celebration event started with a greeting message by the co-founder of the FORRU, Assoc. Prof. Steve Elliott and the education director Dr. Sutthathorn Chairuangsri (Aj. Gwang) followed by the performance and presentation by the teachers and students from the 5 schools who participated in the YFR program this school year. Our biology teacher Hendrik Stautmeister and grade 6 students showed the pictures of the forest activities and shared their thoughts about the tree planting project.
After a short break, our students visited other schools’ booths to see their progress with seedlings and share experiences with each other. And then they were divided into 4 groups to join different activities; restoration bingo game, Kids-teach-kids nursery skills, seed bank tour, and flying a drone for forestry. Before taking a group photo with everyone, each school painted a part of the forest on a canvas and put them together at the end.
We would like to say thank you to the FORRU team for providing such a great event with other schools and also helping us with our forest project. It was nice to engage with other school students for the same project and the same goal; trees for the future!
Young Forest Restorers (YFR) schools
2022-2023:
- Christian German School Chiang Mai (CDSC)
- Prem Tinsulanonda International School (PTIS)
- Yupparaj Wittayalai School
- Varee Chiangmai International School (VCIS)
- Varee Chiangmai School
2023-2024:
- Chiang Mai International School (CMIS)
- Doi Saket Wittayakom School
- Kawila Wittayalai School
- Dara Academy
Find out more information about the CDSE Forest & YFR programs here:
CDSC Forest: https://cdsc.ac.th/en/school-life/cdsc-forest/
