Plant a tree seed, save a planet | WWF

Plant a tree seed, save a planet

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Seed growing in stages
© Malcolm Romain / istockphoto


 
It's the smallest thing but possibly the grandest gesture you can do today... Plant a tree seed.
It can be a pip from an apple, an acorn from an oak or a winged nut from a maple - you can even go crazy and buy a whole packet of tree seeds from your local garden centre if you want.

All you have to do is make sure they are the seeds of trees that found naturally - or "native" -  to the place in which you live.

But where do you plant it?


On the side of the side of the street, in your garden, in the park, by a lay-by, on the side of a field or next to a wood... anywhere where there's space and light. Then all you have to do is
  1. bend down,
  2. push your finger into the soil about to about 2cm (1 inch) depth -  or use a pen - and pop that seed in.
  3. Then stand on the hole to close it over and tuck it in.
That's it.

That's all you have to do.

You've taken a step, an action, that helps our only planet  - the planet we depend on and cling to - breathe a little easier (quite literally).

It may be a simple act.

It may have been easy to carry out. But given half a chance that seed will grow and grow and mean more and more as your life goes on.

Your one single action gains significance as it grows, as you grow.

How easy was that? How good do you feel?

And if it does make you feel good, go do it again!

And again.

Whenever you're feeling blue or a little down, or even just for the sake of it, go do a bit of planet saving by popping a seed in a hole the next time you're out and about.
Go crazy and buy a packet of tree seeds from your local garden centre if you wish.

Or go round your neighbourhood at the right time of year (usually autumn for most of us), and collect seeds from the many different trees that grow naturally in your area, and stock up for the year of planet-saving seed-planting ahead of you...

It's not the only seed you just planted

You just planted one in your own mind.
The idea, the thought, perhaps the hope that you can do something to save this planet.

That you can help maintain the majesty of life as we know it.

Doing small things can achieve big things.

The very seed you planted in the soil is proof of that.

A living example of how from small things even greater things emerge and grow.

Can you save a planet? Yes you can.
© Claudelle Girard / istockphoto
Illustration of a lady's head with a tree growing from the hair.
© Claudelle Girard / istockphoto

Why are trees important?

Trees prevent soil erosion, are pretty vital in maintaining and regulating most water cycles, and help check global warming by using carbon dioxide in photosynthesis.

So it's quite scary that over the past 50 years, about half the world's original forest cover has been lost.

Read more on why trees and forests are important to life on Earth...

* When you're planet saving - be careful!

Remember - you're planting for the future.

So when you plant your seed try and imagine what it will be like when it is all grown up.

Will it cause problems for anyone?

After all, in a few years we don't want someone cutting down what you have so carefully sown all those years ago.

What if my tree seed doesn't grow?

Don't worry. This can happen for a variety of reasons (lack of water, poor soil, competition from other plants etc).

Simply plant another seed, but maybe in a different place.

If there's one thing about planet saving, it's that you don't give up at the first attempt :-)

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