My friends the trees: an awareness initiative on the importance of forests

My friends the trees:

an awareness initiative on the importance of forests

Santiago de Cali, 23th January of 2025

When a seed is planted, it comes into contact with the soil and begins a surprising process. A small grain quickly transforms into a being that sprouts, finding its way until it consolidates and then reaches the light. With the help of water, air, and other elements of the environment, it grows strong, and the first leaves emerge like strokes of light, surprisingly confirming that life emerges from the simplest things.

Imagining this may seem easy, and undoubtedly, living it is extraordinary, but fostering it, guiding it, and nurturing it defies explanation. It is under this principle that Fundación Impulso Verde has created a program called “My Friends the Trees,” aimed at children aged 6 to 11, which encourages them to imagine a better world and add color to life.

“We are convinced that children are agents of change, and we need their wisdom to change the world and face the challenges humanity faces due to biodiversity loss,” says Antoine Gérigné, president and founder of Impulso Verde, a Colombian-French organization working for ecosystem restoration and conservation in Colombia.

“This environmental education initiative raises awareness not only among children but also among parents, relatives, and friends,” he adds, describing the nature of the program led by the organization.

Since its creation in 2020, the environmental awareness proposal has impacted nearly 8,000 children from educational institutions in rural and urban areas of the departments of Nariño and Valle del Cauca, as well as cities like Bogotá and Pereira.

It’s not a workshop full of big scientific reflections; it’s a simple conversation that begins by awakening the children’s creativity through imagining a world full of life and breaking with routine,” says Laura Rubio, biologist at Fundación Impulso Verde, who marvels at the children’s awareness of the importance of caring for nature in their daily lives and the great lessons learned from each session, as well as their creativity and resourcefulness.

The drawings with shades of red, yellow, green, violet, and brown are the accomplices of the encounter, allowing the children to draw the tree of their dreams. The illustration reflects their feelings and experiences. “Each drawing is uploaded to the digital platform of My Friends the Trees, and together, the illustrations form the great digital forest,” explained biologist Rubio, summarizing the second stage of the learning exercise and citing the website: https://mis-amigos-los-arboles.org/proyecto/

“The workshop, conducted with groups of approximately 25 children in three stages, transcends when it involves technology because it allows the children to feel part of a large project. In the end, not only do the children feel proud, but their parents, teachers, and the surrounding community also take pride,” says Antoine Gérigné.

After two and a half hours of playful activities, the children see their contribution to nature materialize when they learn that for each drawing, Fundación Impulso Verde guarantees the real planting of a tree, creating a forest that ensures oxygen for life. “We are the channel to make these children’s dreams a reality and teach them why they are the solution for the future,” adds Antoine.  

Each activity of My Friends the Trees ends with a practical environmental session, which could be the planting of trees or an activity involving interaction with the soil, teaching the value of seeds and how to continue contributing to environmental care in everyday life.

Deicy Bolaños, a facilitator from Ipiales, says, “There’s a lot of creativity when making the drawings. Some, for example, are interactive. It’s essential to see how the children think positively and commit themselves to being guardians of nature.”

“The exercise has not only allowed us to raise awareness among children, but today we also have a group of 15 facilitators in Nariño who have become spokespersons for the initiative. As workshop leaders, they stay in constant contact with Impulso Verde to provide feedback and continuously improve the exercise,” says Laura Rubio, who adds that the project has helped shape some future environmental engineers in the country.

“In the workshops, we talk to the children about the great value trees represent in our territory, we mention the importance of caring for them, and explain how each tree is made up; the conversation also focuses on the species we protect,” describes Adriana Marisela Potosí Cuasquer, a facilitator from the municipality of Cumbal in Nariño.

My Friends the Trees has transcended borders to the point where organizations like ‘A Tree For You’ have partnered with Fundación Impulso Verde, integrating the initiative into the planting of 30,000 trees. In this process, 150 children have been impacted, and the same number is expected to be reached by the end of 2024.

Although restoration is already an achievement, this program contributes to the recovery of the Guáitara River, one of the tributaries in the south of the country, thus confirming that the future of the initiative is already leaving its mark, opening doors, and becoming a model for the world.