Growing the POEM FOREST with Wollongong City Council

The newest seedlings of the POEM FOREST are starting to sprout up on Dharawal Country in the Wollongong LGA, showcasing what urban greening projects can achieve in allowing everyone to make positive climate action. Our first local POEM FOREST workshop of the year with Farmborough Road Public School had students write poetry with Worimi poet Nicole Smede and plant trees with horticulturists from Wollongong Botanic Garden. The team at the garden has been carefully tending to the seedlings to get them ready to grow strong enough to provide shade, habitat, cooling effects and cleaner air.

Every poem plants a tree - with over 600 poems already submitted this year, that is 600 new seedlings sprouting from the soil on Dharawal Country to provide the critical canopy cover needed for increased climate resilience.

As this new branch of the forest flourishes, you will get to watch how your words are making an impact. Students and teachers across the continent can contribute their own nature poems to help grow the POEM FOREST.

If you'd like to get more directly involved in making positive climate action in your local community, have a look at some of the activities in our free, curriculum-aligned Learning Resource full of tips on how to organise a tree planting at your school, research and consult with First Nations organisations to make sure you are planting the right plants.

This year's POEM FOREST is being planted on Dharawal Country in the Wollongong LGA with our planting partner Wollongong City Council.