2011 CFP Activities

In the Children’s Forest Program (CFP) of Rattaprashasamakkee School, tree planting and management work, organic agriculture, pig farming, compost making and organic rice cultivation activities are carried out. Before starting the activities, we discussed with the villagers and school on a suitable site and the details of the projects, and made plans together.

OISCA Lamphun Center is located near Doi Krua Mountain. The children who live around the mountain have good knowledge about their environment and nature. They are able to cook the ingredient harvested from the mountain, such as mushrooms, bamboo shoots, edible fruits and leaves, and animal meat. The children are not only trained on recognizing and protecting the benefits of the forest but they also are trained on wildfire prevention every year.

Mope Primary School is located in Kokopo District, Papua New Guinea. The local people were fascinated by the Children’s Forest Programs activities in other school areas and negotiated to have their own activities to promote environmental and conservation awareness. In 2011, 150 students and 70 adults, including OISCA staff and trainees, engaged in tree planting activities to emphasize the importance of trees.

Mope Elementary School

CFP school since 2011

150 students

Rabaul Town, East New Britain Province

Vunalovo Primary School is located in the Gazelle District of East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea. In the language of Kuanua, “vuna” means place and “lovo” means the tree roots, therefore “Vunalovo” means the place where the roots are found. The Vunalovo Primary School is surrounded by coconut trees and cocoa trees so in 2011, Vunalovo Primary School joined OISCA’s Children’s Forest Program to teach the children of the importance of the other various trees in their environment. 250 students and 50 adults, including OISCA trainees, engaged in planting tree saplings as a way to develop their environmental understanding. The Children’s Forest Program intends to support and improve the environmental education in the Vunalovo classrooms.

Vunalovo Primary School

CFP school since 2004

250 students

Rabaul Town, East New Britain Province

Vunairima Primary School is near the coastal area of Gazele District. The school has his own natural forest and under spring water, just beside the school area. Vunairima PS with OISCA has a very good relation ship sharing ideas about the World Environment Day activities. As our awareness to the children and teachers. they realized the importace of trees how they play the role to human and living things' lives on the earth. THe head teacher consideration is to be part of CFP activities is the only way to protect their underground spring water by planting more trees at the top of the spring water source, and the same time do some reforestration where the natural forest is. CFP activity is conserving the spring water.

Vunairima Primary School

CFP school since 2011

200 students

Gazelle, East New Britain Province

In Ban Pabongtaokaenjan School, children of various tribes, including hill tribes, are studying together. In the school, we are mainly doing organic agriculture, tree-planting and garbage recycling activities. In organic agriculture, the children are divided into groups and make organic compost and grow vegetables. By learning organic, agriculture which is environment-friendly, they also learn about the environment. The majority of the hill tribe children live at the school dormitory, and the harvested vegetables are provided to the dormitory. So the children can eat safe vegetables they produced by themselves.

Ban Pabongtaokaenjan School

CFP school since 2011

261 students

In September 2011, this region was hit by a large-scale typhoon and sustained serious damage. Fortunately, Macabaclay Elementary School and the pupils were all safe. The region was also hit by a typhoon in 2004, and it has become an urgent task to conserve the environment in order to reduce disaster damage. In the Children’s Forest Program, we are teaching the children that environment conservation activities will lead to the prevention and reduction of damage by natural disasters like typhoons.

In early December in which the Christmas season started, a Christmas card making contest was held at Ariendo Elementary School, and pupils from grade 1 to grade 6 participated. The children taking part in the recycling campaign through CFP activities, tackled card-making by utilizing old wrapping papers, newspapers and natural materials such as tree leaves and flowers. The cards the children wholeheartedly made all looked splendid, and the teachers had great difficulties in ranking. Rey-Marie, a grade-6 pupil who got the first prize, was very pleased. “Today, I was looking forward to this contest from early morning. I was little worried if I could make it well. I am very happy to get the first prize.”

The OISCA Children’s Forest Program (CFP) Quezon Chapter conducted a Seminar and Eco Camp last August 17-18, 2011 at OISCA Sariaya Pilot Project in Brgy. Sampaloc 1, Sariaya, Quezon. The CFP Seminar and Eco Camp was implemented with the cooperation of the Department of Education, the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer, and the local Barangay Officials. The activity, with the theme “Sustainable and Eco Friendly School”, was attended by a total of 60 participants from 12 schools consisting of students and school coordinators, community members and Barangay Officials.

Four schools in the Capalonga Region, namely Catalino Gonzales Elementary School, Sotero Mago Elementary School, Lucbanan Elementary School, Esturas-Nabata Elentary School, started CFP activities.

On December 19, 2011, the CFP inaugural ceremony was jointly held at Sotero Mago Elementary School. The children and teachers of the four schools, village officials and family members of the children participated in the ceremony.

Buong Elementary School first opened in 1967 but was closed during Martial Law in the 70s. The school again opened in June 1989. The school is located at the foot of the mountain of Barangay Dumaguena about 18 kilometers away from the national highway of Ochentay Uno, Narra Palawan. 90% of the population are Tagbanua tribe members. Buong opened a 6th grade this school year 2011-2012. For a long time, Buong Elementary is an incomplete elementary school offering classes up to 5th grade in multi-grade classes supervised by two permanent teachers. Buong Elementary School is one of OISCA CFP Palawan supported school.

On October 2011, OISCA-CFP Palawan Coordinator introduced the use of banana leaves as pot in raising seedlings for the school’s organic vegetable garden. Using banana leaves a seedling pots is a new concept. After the CFP Coordinator had shown how to create seedling pots out of banana leaves, the students gathered banana leaves and decided to make seedling pots.

More than 100 students, teachers, parents and local government officials of Barangay Careb in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya welcomed the arrival of the Japan Energy Chemistry (JEC) on October 11, 2011. Holding both Philippine and Japan flag and drums and xylophone, the students and other welcoming committee lined along the road in front of Careb Elementary School in order to recognize the coming of the Japanese visitors.

JEC, a Union Group with members working in the different companies in Japan has been supporting the Children Forest Program of OISCA. The members of the Union have been visiting the CFP schools to be involved in the actual implementation of the environmental conservation efforts of OISCA.

The geographical location of the Philippines made it susceptible to typhoons. Facing the Pacific Ocean, the country is visited by an average of 20 typhoons every year creating damage into the economic situation and way of living of the Filipinos. The typhoon Pedring, one of the strongest typhoons that hit the Northern part of the Philippines on the 17th of September 2011 damaged almost the whole province of Isabela including the trees planted under the Children Forest Program in Kapirpirwan Elementary School.

Fortunately, despite the intensity of the typhoon, the school buildings were not severely damaged because the trees acted as natural barriers which absorbed the strong impact of winds and rains brought by typhoons. With this experience, the school management and the students are more determined in doubling their efforts of planting and nurturing trees within the CFP School.

Nampasan Primary School joined Children's Forest Program and had the first activity in October, 2011. 74 children planted a total of 50 tree seedlings in the school yard together with their family members and local people. It marked a good opportunity for them to think about the importance of the environmental protection and the natural symbiosis.

After the tree planting activity, the children participated in Tsumiki No Hiroba (Environmental Education through Wooden Blocks) which was the first attempt in Malaysia. The activity is usually carried out indoor in Japan, but the school did not have any facilities such as a gymnasium so they hold the activity outside spreading out a carpet under the blue sky.

This activity was carried out after the final examinations in school on April 16th, 2011. Pupils from the 3rd to the 5th grades totaling 88 children joined in this special activity. It started with a healthy walk around the village of Batursari to observe the kinds of vegetables planted around the area. Children were excited going around the village filled with various mountain vegetable farms left and right. They joked and sang while walking along streets of the village.

The tree planting activity was conducted in December, 2011. Before planting, children were introduced to the tree species and their benefits by the CFP coordinator.

Although they had planted trees several times, it was very first time for them to learn about trees. After the class, children planted total of 185 trees which they had learnt in the classroom in the school yard.

SDN Batursari joined CFP in 2010. In accordance with CFP concept, the main activity is tree planting. Until the end of 2011, the school has conducted tree planting many times already.
This planting activity had the participation of all pupils from Grades 1-6, teachers and village officials of Batursari Kledung Village. This was the last day in school for the pupils wherein they received their report cards before going on a school break. It was scheduled on this day so that all classes could join and children could go home with the thought that they did something worthwhile before going on vacation. Children did Japanese exercise before the activity and they looked very enthusiastic doing it.

We have received some photos from the first CFP school in Honduras which started the project in November, 2011.

The children mesured themselves with the trees they planted when they started the project. They all look very happy to see the growth of the trees. Some of the trees have already grown much taller than the children. In addition to the tree mesuring activity, the children picked up litter around their school.

While the trees become a forest which provides the shades, although it will take some more time, the children will take good care of the trees.

To see the trees they planted on the very first day, please click here (jump to CFP Japanese website).

ANIRUDH stays near the Kanakalaya Bank .He was disturbed by the fact that outside his compound people were dumping wastes. Every time he returned home he could see the wastes getting accumulated. He tried several ways of telling people not to do, but nothing worked .So he came with a novel idea of planting a garden there. He watered it at night time after his studies and protected it. Now it is a beautiful sight to travelers along Kannur NH.

The news came in Mathrubhumi Daily.We were able to create a sense of environmental sensitivity in our students.

The problem of waste in India is really serious same as the other countries.

The Adrash Vidya Kendra Higher Secondary School had a class about the problem and created awareness about the importance of waste management and the disadvantages of plastics.

Since then children have been trying to reduce usage of plastic and use eco-friendly products. Moreover, children have participated in the rally program conducted by the Tamilnadu State Pollution Control Board, Kanyakumari District and built up a sense of awareness about the environmental problems.

Additional action is increase the usage of organic products as manure. Also the advantage of natural manure was emphasized. The waste products was properly managed and it was used as natural manure.

Children planted sapling in the campus this year too. The ‘Green Drive’ in the school campus initiated four years back and almost 50 species of 150 plants is at different levels of growth around the campus. Children are quite enthusiastic in the planting and up keeping of the trees.

She is the first girl who entered school in her family. The teacher who established the school encouraged her parents to let their children go to school and the school assisted her parents in sending her to school by providing scholarship.

She is a very hard worker in everything. She studies very hard and participates actively in Children's Forest Program, not only she helps her family.

She is a key figure of Children's Forest Program of her school. She always helps CFP coordinator and encourages other children to participate in CFP activities. In 2011, 100 plant-seedlings were planted and she is looking after them with her friends.　

She said, she is learning many things though CFP activities which she did not know before, such as the roles of trees and forest and the importance of separating and recycling waste.

SLB Government Higher Secondary School is situated in the heart of the town, which has a high population density of 1106 per sq.km, where green coverage is very low. Due to population pressure in the town, concrete jungles have mushroomed in the town and the outskirts. Unlike other schools, SLB School is blessed with a vast campus area, with space to plant trees and maintain them. To augment the green coverage, the CFP of the school planted saplings. Students are happy to plant the trees and to maintain them.

The students point out that the trees planted by them, would grow into large trees in future, and they would give shelter to many birds, various living organisms and contribute to reduce global warming and climate change. It may be pointed out here that the school campus is a house of many birds, insects, butterflies and reptiles, due to the prevalence of many trees. Students have planned to plant more trees in the next year also.

One primary school in Fiji, chicken rearing and organic farming project has launched since 2010 along with tree-planting activity. The school is located deep in the mountains and becomes isolated by the flood when it rains heavy. Therefore they have to be self-sufficient for their food. However since Fijian is originally a hunting race, so rearing vegetable or livestock is very challenging for them.

In 2011, Waiyara School started chicken rearing and organic farming project in conjunction with tree-planting & growing activity has started since 1999. The school is also in the mountains. The project was started in response to requests from the school teachers. They wished their children to learn cyclical farming and live in harmony with nature through learning how to rear chicken or vegetables and make compost from poultry manure.

A poultry house was built in their school premise and children are learning how to rear chicken very hard. Now they are very much motivated to start organic faming using poultry manure next year.

Tagaqe Village is located on the coast and has been damaged by high tides every year due to the recent climate change. The coast has been damaged by the strong current and trees, such as coconut, have been knocked down. Furthermore, seawater intrudes to the village and causes damages to field crops.

There used to be mangrove forest along the coast which protected villagers lives from the high tides. However people chopped down the trees for firewood and charcoal. As the result, there are few mangrove trees left. The principal of Tagaqe District School felt a sense of crisis over such a situation and asked OISCA for a support to recover the mangrove forest. In 2011, he started Mangrove planting project in cooperation with the village and 1,200 mangrove seedlings were planted by children and villagers.

Village elders said that they could catch a lot of fish close to the coast when there was a mangrove forest. But, now days they have to sail to the offshore to catch fish after decreasing amount of fish near the coast course of cut down mangroves. Villagers want to get back bountiful sea in those days for their children.

Bagbari Madrasa School is a school that provides primary, secondary and college levels of educations, and there are many children come to this school everyday.

In the premise of the school, there is a voluntary-built and aided orphanage. Children in this orphanage, of course, attend Bagbari Madrasa School. The Children's Forest Program's activities of this school in 2011 were mainly done around this orphanage. The seedlings children picked to plant around the orphanage building were mango trees. This is because that the orphanage is managed relying on voluntary contribution and does not have enough funding and they thought they would be able to earn some money by selling mangoes someday while they can green their school premise.

It will be a long way to harvest mangoes. Children, however, are sure to look after the trees they planted in expectation of harvesting yummy mangoes in the future.

Illishia Jamila Begum High School has opportunity of Japanese visit of encouragement every year. Every time the Japanese group visits the school, they have a cultural exchange program where both parties perform something representing their cultures such as singing or dancing. There are few foreign visitors in the village. This opportunity is one of the biggest events of the school. For some students, this is the most awaited extra-curricular activity of the year.

Moreover, not only they exchange entertainments each other, the students of Illishia Jamila Begum High School also joins the Japanese group’s reforestation work which is the main reason the group visits Bangladesh. Through planting mangroves struggling with the mud together, the students and the Japanese visitors strengthen their emotional bond. The school principal Mr. Nurul Hossain spoke, “we are truly thankful for the continuous support from Japan. It is very encouraging for the students to have enjoyable time with the Japanese visitors".

Greeting cards from children over the world to the supporters for Children's Forest Program has been arriving to OISCA.

This year, 2011, which was designated as the International Year of Forests and in which the UN Decade on Biodiversity started, about 14,000 people participated at 105 places in 13 countries of the world participated “Green Wave” campaign through Children’s Forest Program. OISCA which signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and pledged cooperation for promoting awareness of and carrying out activities of the biodiversity conservation delivered certificates of ”Green Wave" participation to the schools to recognize their keen participations to Children’s Forest Program together with CBD.

Ramon Rosa Primary School in Atlantida, Honduras has launched Children's Forest Program (CFP), which becomes the first CFP in Honduras.

Fernando Mancia, OISCA Chubu Training Center's former trainee who wished to apply what he learnt in OISCA, explained the importance of CFP passionately to his hometown school teachers. Consequenｔｌｙ he achieved this first launch of CFP in Honduras.

On 22 and 24 October, OISCA Toyota Aichi planted trees with 2 local junior high schools in conjunction with OISCA’s 50th Anniversary in Sabah, Malaysia.

Saturday, 22 October

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bingkor: Keningau, Sabah

For the second participation in the Children’s Forest Program (CFP) of this time, the total of 300 trees was planed. The kinds of trees planed were Cinnamomum, Spanish Cherry and Fir Tree.

At 10 p.m. on 23th May, 2011, the students from Githunguri Primary School and Mukuyu Primary School participated in the Green Wave 2011. The total of 166 students, from 5th grade to 8th grade, planted trees this time.

Each student planted 2~3 trees side-by-side so that they can identify their trees planted by themselves. After they planted trees, the students carried water from a pond nearby and watered their trees.

The total of 500 trees was planted by students in Ruiru by this Green Wave and everybody look forward to seeing how they grow.

OISCA LANKA held the 50th Anniversary Celebration of OISCA and the 20th Anniversary of CFP (Children's Forest Program) in Kandy City on 24th September, 2011. The Ceremony begun with the Environment Educational Parade, and 700 participants, including 460 school children, marched from the Central Market Kandy to the Hindu Cultural Center where the 50th Anniversary Ceremony was held. During the parade, participants held up colorful banners and placards calling for environmental protections and some marching bands were also featured.

Chumkiri Primary School was established by the community. It is located in an under-developed area with a very limited educational system. The school's environment has very high temperatures and lacks greenery so CFP tree planting activities were well needed.

On May 14, 2011, OISCA Mongolia and Ulan Bator City Youth Bureau jointly carried out this year’s first activity of the Children’s Forest Program at the National Garden located in the south of Ulan Bator. About 30 people comprising junior high school students and high school students aged from 14 to 17 years who belong to the City Youth Bureau, participated in this event. They planted a total of 100 trees: 49 larch trees and 51 white birch trees, respectively.

Nangli is a poor village where nearly 60% of about 5,000 residents are engaged in agriculture and the rest going out to work in the near-by cities. The majority of the people there don’t finish compulsory education, and this trend is remarkable particularly among the women.

 After having observed the situation in the village, Mr. Habinda Singh launched a slogan: “give education to this village”, and started the school with 5 students in 2005. It was a big challenge also for the OISCA staff to carry out the Children’s Forest Program in such a place. At first, the school started with tree planting. But there was not enough space in the school, and so, consulted with the village, and it was agreed to plant trees in the park adjacent to the school.

The school intends to plant about 100 trees each every year. As for other activities, the school staged theater plays with the theme of environmental problem in the village plaza. Although the plays were staged without any notice, many village people came over to watch the performance. The children are feeling highly rewarded because even if many villagers are illiterate, they can still learn something about environmental problems.

(Model National School, Nangli Village)

Program starting year: 2009 Number of students: 460

To observe the International Bio Diversity Day, around 100 students of Class VII and VII of DAV school, Noida had visited Botanic Garden of Indian Republic at Noida on 18th May, 2011.

Mr. Ranjeet and Mr. Jagdish, OISCA staff were the resource person for the Nature Tour. Students saw and also learnt about different kinds of trees, their uses. A lecture was given on the Bio Diversity and need to plant more trees.

The duration of the tour was of two hours. The tour started from 7.30 am to 9.30 am.

Myanmar’s central arid region where the OISCA Training Center is located, is an area with very harsh environment where the annual rainfall is on average 400 millimeters and in the summer season (March-May), the temperature goes up to 45℃.

There are only few tree species that can grow under these severe conditions, and there is no forest and the area is surrounded by sparse shrubs. But the local residents cut down these sparse shrubs to use as firewood for daily cooking and making bricks, and so the trees have been getting decreasing.

With a sense of crisis that the environment would further deteriorate if no action were taken, OISCA started out in 2001 the Children’s Forest Program at two primary schools located in the villages adjacent to the Training Center.

The first of these schools was Thet Ywar Primary School. In the first year, the program was faced with many difficulties such as domestic animals eating up young trees, poor soil conditions and the problem of well water unsuitable for irrigation.

The experience at that time has been fully utilized in the subsequent activities in other schools. The year 2011 falls on the 10th anniversary of the Children’s Forest Program in Myanmar.

(Thet Ywar Primary School)

Program starting year: 2001 Number of students: 75