The energy brought by the birth of a pure love has the power to spread miles away. For every love that begins to grow through the birth or adoption of a child in Wales, two saplings simultaneously start to take root—one on Welsh soil and the other under the African sky. This symbolic message of the unbreakable bond between humans and nature began its journey in 2008. Since then, thousands of trees have grown alongside generations of children.
The Plant! Program
More than fifteen years ago, the Welsh Government launched an initiative called Plant! with the idea that for every child born or adopted in Wales, a tree would be planted in the country. The initiative, carried out by the government organization Natural Resources Wales (NRW), lasted until 2023.
To learn more about this program, I visited the official website of the Welsh Government and found some interesting information. The initiative was implemented automatically, without requiring parents or guardians to sign up. Once a tree was planted, a certificate was issued and sent to the child’s address. Interestingly, this document was environmentally friendly, produced from sustainably managed forests. Along with the certificate, a letter provided information about the exact location of the child’s tree, allowing the family to track its growth. Additionally, trees were not planted randomly across Wales but in specifically designated areas that would form new forests over time.
The Planting Continues
The charity organization Size of Wales, which focuses on reforestation and climate action, joined the Plant! program. Before continuing the story, it is important to highlight that this organization places special emphasis on working with partner countries such as Uganda. This is significant because, in 2014, the Plant! program expanded to ensure that for every tree planted in Wales, another one was planted in Uganda. The implementation of this part of the program was taken over by Size of Wales, meaning that today, every child born or adopted in Wales receives two trees. Although the government program ended in 2023, this organization has continued its efforts to this day.
The certificates with tree location details are particularly fascinating for the trees planted in Uganda, considering that they are located on a different continent, thousands of miles away.
The Bigger Goal of Size of Wales
If we take a closer look at the name Size of Wales, we will notice that it translates literally to “the size of Wales.” This is no coincidence. The symbolism behind the organization’s name reflects its main goal: to protect and restore tropical forests worldwide over an area equivalent to the size of Wales.
Uganda holds a special place in the heart of this organization, as it has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. Data shows that between 2001 and 2020, Uganda lost nearly 920,000 hectares of forest. If this trend continues, the country faces the risk of losing its entire forest cover by 2040.
Indigenous and local communities are the best guardians of forests, as their knowledge has been passed down through generations for centuries. The Plant! program is not the only way this organization contributes to reforestation and the fight against climate change and soil erosion in Uganda. Other initiatives, such as the Mable Trees program, ensure that fruit trees are planted in the gardens of family homes in the Malbe region of Uganda.
Additionally, Size of Wales collaborates with Indigenous peoples and local communities in Latin America, other parts of Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Katarina Vuinac
