"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
National Tree Week takes place from 22nd November to 30th November in 2025. Celebrate all things tree and branch out with these leafy activities! National Tree Week is organised by the Tree Council - it's the largest tree celebration in the UK and it launches the start of the winter tree planting season.
This is a great opportunity to do something positive for trees in your area.
10 Tree Things to Do
Send a tree through the post as a gift! Yes, honestly. There’s a tree (or a bush) for everyone even in a hallway or on a balcony. Rather than send flowers which don’t last, send a tree or bush which will last longer. Some trees/bushes even produce things you can eat…. Tree2mydoor.com is to trees what a florist is to flowers so this Christmas why not send a tree as a gift?
Hunt for ancient trees Help the hunt for Ancient Trees and help boost the ancient tree inventory. This is a great outdoors activity, aided by the fact you can choose the day (and weather) on which to do it. Your family can go hunting for ancient trees and if you find one, let the Woodland Trust know about it. It helps them lobby to protect ancient trees and care for them, and plan for their proteciton in the future. The Woodland Trust has activities for children to do.
Plant a tree or join a community plant From small trees to the mighty oak, you can plant a tree in your garden or join a community project and enjoy it for years. Get your community planting trees or volunteer to help on a tree planting near you. This is a great way to meet new people and make friends and get all earthy. The Woodland Trust has more information on community planting
There are tree planting campaigns in many countries of the world. For instance, in Australia, the Koala Clancy Foundation is aiming to plant 300,000 trees to help koalas by 2030. Bangalow Koalas are looking to plant 1,000,000 trees by 2030. Trees for Lifein Scotland have a Plant a Tree opportunity so that you can help them transform open hillside into woodland, so restoring the Caledonian Forest.
Who lives in woodland and trees? Wildlife need our woodland and our trees. Discover who lives in our woodlands and trees and our forests. The Woodland Trust has information about who lives there.
Become a tree surgeon This could be a great career for anyone who loves the outdoors life and trees! Tree surgeons plant, they fell, they care for and maintain trees and assess their hazards. You can find more info at the National Careers Service website and The Arboricultural Association has information as well.
Be a tree warden for the Tree Council The Tree Warden Scheme is a national initiative to enable people to play an active role in conserving and enhancing their local trees and woods. The scheme was founded and is co-ordinated by The Tree Council.
Plant a tree in memory My wonderful Dad died in 2013. Birthdays and Christmases are difficult. I felt I wanted to mark events such as this in some way so I’ve started planting a tree in Dad’s memory for these occasions and Father’s Day. t took a while for the idea to surface, but I do smile at the thought of trees being dedicated to Dad all over the world. I try to find a link between each tree and Dad. He was a Winnie the Pooh fan, so I planted a tree in Sussex which is Winnie the Pooh country. Campaign for Trees The Woodland Trust campaigns for Trees – visit their website to see if there are any campaign's you could support. Examples include being a voice for trees and woods, telling the Trust about threats to ancient woods, and taking action in your community. Find out what you can do to help
Visit Trees for Cities Trees for Cities is working to make cities greener places in which to live and visit world wide. There are opportunities to volunteer, either as an individual or a corporate entity. Since 1993, over 70,000 people have planted over 600,000 urban trees in parks, streets, schools and housing estates across the UK, as well as internationally.
Plus....
Why not get use trees in a creative bit of fun? Draw trees or a group of trees; you can always use just pencil and paper - I love Easy Pencil Art Drawing Tutorials; there are great videos there covering all sorts of works, such as trees, landscapes, seascapes and animals!
Or you could do some tree photography... go out and take pictures of different trees and then try identifying them when you get home.
The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is based in Kenya and it takes in orphaned and abandoned elephant calves. The aim is to release them back into the wild herts adjoining Retiti.
The keepers caring for the elephants have all been trained in the care, rehabilitation and release of elephant calves. They are recruited from the Namunyak Conservancy and they all have a deep respect for elephants. You can meet some of the keepers here.
You can meet some of the elephants here – they are orphaned or abandoned because of drought, man-made wells, human-wildlife conflict and natural mortality. It was the local community who wanted the Sanctuary.
The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary has an appeal to raise $250,000 to buy a mobile veterinary clinic! The clinic will reach the most remote, rugged parts of Northern Kenya and this should allow the Reteti tea to delivery essential care to injured and traumatised animals. It could even prevent calves being made orphans!
Not only that, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has pledged to match every donation up to US$ 125,000 - and that means that donations will go twice as far! A great way to make your donation go twice the distance!
There are a lot of challenges in the wild areas of Northern Kenya - climate change, droughts, the conflict with people. Many animals are badly injured and orphaned every year as a result of these challenges. And because of the terrain, help could be hours and even days away - there are very difficult conditions to cross and it can be impossible for the team to get to animals in time to save them.
Reteti has launched a dedicateed Rapid-Response Mobile Veterinarian Unit - and the aim is to deliver lifesaving care in the huge landscape around the clock!
Gifting them a bottle of milk - the video shows how much they adore it! Each elephant drinks about 8 bottles of milk a day, generally goats milk. The elephants have a feed about every 3 hours and between feeds, the keepers take them on bush walks so that they can learn to browse, navigate and get used to the landscape.
Don't miss it! Although it's a repeat, the programme is very timely, given that these rather amazing animals are at the centre of the coronavirus storm.
Pangolins are the world's most trafficked animal - their scales are wanted in Chinese medicine. Their flesh is eaten as a delicacy.
Sir David Attenborough narrates the storm of the pangolin and gives hope on how we can save them.
Spectacled Bear Conservation has been successful in fitting the first GPS collars on spectacled bears in the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge in Northern Peru. It’s a protected area. The team deployed five collars in a few days – they have years of data collection there and have an amazing expertise in bear monitoring.
It’s a huge leap forward; SBC Peru say the team has spent over 15 years researching and determined that the Laquipampa Wildlife Refuge and the landscape around it covering 75,000 acres represent the most crucial remaining habitat for spectacled bears in this ecosystem.
The satellite GPS collars track real-time bear movements which gives incredible insights into the daily lives of the bears both in and out of the protected areas. They will be hugely helpful in increasing understanding of bear health, the bears’ use of habitat and the threats facing them.
This information will empower SERNANP to strengthen park management; whilst SBC will be able to develop science-based conservation actions for bears beyond the park boundaries.
Back in May, SBC launched a collaring programme in collaboration with SERNANP in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary. Four collared bears have been giving lots of very useful insights into their daily lives which have enhanced the understanding of their habits, behaviour and needs.
And more news...
Back in August 2024, SBC emailed with their annual report. They are the Spectacled Bears Conservation and they work in Peru towards the conservation of the spectacled bear, otherwise known as the Andean bear.
The bears suffer from habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and conflict between people and wildlife. There is a lack of knowedge about them, which impinges on the ability to plan for their conservation, and make decsisions. And they're the only bear species in South America. It's estimated there are about 2,500 mature individuals now.
SBC's mission is to:
To conserve and protect spectacled bears and their habitat in Peru through scientific research, education and collaboration with local communities, government and land owners.
Spectacled Bear Conservation was registered as a non-profit organisation in Peru back in 2009. The aim was to continue research into spectacled bears and to partner with local communities to protect spectacled bear habitat.
Their Annual Report gives you an idea of the work they are doing. For instance, their camera trap study in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary gave unprecedented data to help strengthen conservationa ction for spectacled bears and the other wildlife in the area. Data caught on camera really gives wildlife conservation organisations evidence of the presence of wildlife and shows those in government that there is truly a need to protect these areas.
Spectacled bears are keystone species: they are essential to keep the ecosystem healthy. And they are an umbrella species, too - they have large habitat ranges. Protect spectacled bears, and you're also protecting other species such as the mountain tapir, the puma, ocelot and jaguarundi.
You can find out all about spectacled bears from the charity's website and donate to the cause of spectacled bears and the work the charity does, too! Don't forget to sign up for their newsletter - it's free to do!
There are plenty of things you can do to support SBC Peru, such as:
Donate (you do this through the Wildlife Conservation Network)
In the UK, Knowsley Safari Park give resource support to Spectacled Bear Conservation - their staff contribute to technical projects, education programmes and communication campaigns, for instance. They have a couple of Andean Bears, and they have keeper talks so that people can find out more about these gorgeous bears!
I love the charity Free the Bears. They are an Australian wildlife conservation and animal welfare organization and they work with local communities and governments in Asia to help sun bears, moon bears (Asiatic black bears) and sloth bears.
So they need protecting.
As governments work to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, so Free the Bears has more to do, rescuing bears who have been held captive for bear bile farming, educating the public, looking after the bears they have rescued – so far 950 in all. As more bear bile farms close and Free the Bears rescue those bears, so they need to build more enclosures. These bears have been captive, in some cases for a very long time. They cannot go into the wild upon release – they need gentle, loving and knowledgeable expert care.
These bears have bear necessities
They need a healthy diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, with dog biscuits for protein and also pulses and grains
They are clever so they need a variety of enrichment activities to stimulate their minds
They love to have their own space so they have climbing platforms and hammocks – most bears don’t see other bears in the forest; they are very private
Many of the bears need veterinary care, some for a while. Remember that many have been used for bear bile farming – a needle has been injected into their gallbladders to access their bile whilst the bears have been drugged
Their enclosures have an environment that’s as near as possible to the natural habitat the bears would normally enjoy – these enclosures need maintaining.
Of course, this all costs. Donations help Free the Bears do these things:
Give immediate medical attention and care to the orphaned cubs
You can also support their Night in a Cage when teams around the world will be raising funds to care for these bears. The idea is that you spend a night in a cage and get sponsorship - or you can donate to a team or individual who is choosing to spend a night in a cage, thus showing what the bears have had to endure until their rescue. Please support this event here.
More about sun bears
Sun bears are the smallest of all bears, but they have a tongue which is 30cm long (that’s a foot!), huge paws and a sun-shaped patch on their chest which gives them their name.
Sun bears are excellent climbers – they live in tropical forests in South East Asia. There they spend more time than other bears in trees, and make nests there. They are crucial for seed dispersal and pest control. The problem sun bears have is that they have lost 60% of their land due to habitat destruction and over-exploitation. Not only that, they are hunted for their paws and their gallbladders – these are sold on the black market.
The bears need us all to act. They have been rescued and they need our help to ensure they get all the wonderful loving care and attention they need for the rest of their lives.
