"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 okapi live in the dense jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The opaki is under threat
Although it is a respected cultural symbol of the DRC (have had protect status since 1933), the opaki is threatened by human activities: slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal gold mining, logging, encroachment from human settlement and bush-meat poaching.
Enter the Opaki Conservation Project
Enter the Opaki Conservation Project which works to protect the natural habitat of the opaki and indigenous Mbuti pygmies who lives in the Opaki Wildlife Reserve. It also looks to promote the species around the world.
The reserve itself is a designated World Heritage Site. It sits within the Ituri Forest, and it encompasses 13,700 square kilometres. As well as the opaki, it is home to animals such as forest elephants, chimpanzees, 13 species of primates, leopards, bongo antelopes and a huge variety of birds and insects.
OpakiConservation undertakes wildlife protection, community assistance and conservation education. For instance, it has IUCN eco-guards to collect snares, evict miners, pursue and detain poachers, monitor agricultural expansion and biodiversity. This is all aimed to protect, manage and secure the Opaki Wildlife Reserve so that future generations can benefit from its vibrant forest ecosystem.
And it provides rations for forest patrols and support, and it helps educate communiteis so that they are aware of the Reserve's regulations and protects them, too. The opaki is an important symbol of their national heritage.
World Opaki Day’s aims
World Opaki Day on 18 October celebrates the opaki – it raises awareness of it as many people have never heard of an opaki. Lots of zoos who have opakis will be doing something about the day to raise awareness of them, so this could be a good time to visit! You can find out more about the opaki here.
And crucially, the opaki acts as a flagship species to protect the forest ecosystem where it resides.
There are activities around the villages in the reserve and they are combined to educate local communities and protect the opaki.
The International Opaki Meeting takes place at the Audubon Species Survival Centre in New Orleans It’s got a 26-acre okapi complex. Colleagues from around the world and conservation leaders will join together for three days of collaboration, field experience and science. Find out more here.
Things we can do on World Okapi Day:
1. Follow the day on social media and tell people about okapis. Here are the hashtags and links:
2. Recycle your own mobile phone. Did you know that a cell/mobile phones have coltan? It’s a mineral mined in the DRC forests, so if you recycle your phone it means less mining in the forest.
3. Put okapi photos on social media, using the hashtags hashtags #OkapiConservation and #WorldOkapiDay
6. Read the Annual Report 2024for Opaki Conservation to show the impact they have had, the challenges they face and their goals for the future.
7. Find out how zoos are helping with opaki conservation: Dublin Zoo has been supporting the Opaki Conservation Project since 2012, and they recently had the exciting birth of an opaki! This was their THIRD opaki calf! Chester Zoo helped to develop a conservation strategy for okapi with the IUCN, and the Zoo staff contributed technical support to the IUCN Giraffe and Okapi Specialist Advisory Group to give assistance in the project development stage. They welcomed an opaki calf a couple of months ago, and you can see the birth here. In September 2025, The Oklahoma City Zoo celebrated the birth of an endangered female okapi calf. And in October 2025, Sacramento Zoo welcomed an opaki calf too!
You could also take a look at the Giraffe and Opaki Specialist Group (GOSG) which consists of experts to study giraffe, opaki and the threats these animals face. The group is leading and supporting conservation actions to ensure that giraffe and opaki survive into the future. The Giraffe Conservation Fund and ZSL (the Zoological Society of London) are co-hosts of the group for giraffe and opaki respectively. Others involved in working for opaki conservation include the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Lukuru Foundation who lead the TL2 Project. The project is seeking to establish a newly protected area - the Lomani National Park - and this area encompasses opaki.
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.
