What lies below and amongst the leaves,
You’ll never know until you explore,
What lies amongst the forest floor.​

~ Hailey V (Year 7, 2021), from ‘What Lies Amongst the Forest Floor’

Poem Forest opens this Wednesday, 22 April 2026. Stay tuned!

​Poem Forest is a free nature writing program and prize that breathes life back into the natural world that sustains us. Created by Red Room Poetry, in partnership with Wollongong City Council, Poem Forest invites students and teachers to use their words to make positive climate action. For every nature poem received, a tree is planted to help heal habitats and create a Poem Forest for future generations. Since 2021, over 22,800 poem trees have been planted.

About the Forest

The Poem Forest will continue to be planted on Dharawal and Wodi Wodi Country in Wollongong and will extend far and wide across Wollongong with trees planted in local parks, natural areas, backyards, and as street trees. With some of the lowest canopy cover in all of NSW, these trees are critical in creating a better future. ​

Seedlings planted in the Poem Forest include a mix of native plants like eucalypts, paperbarks (melaleuca), palms, flame trees, as well as coastal-loving trees like Wild Quince (Guioa semiglauca) and Cheese Trees (Glochidion ferdinandi). They will be carefully prepared by the team at Wollongong Botanic Garden Nursery so they're ready to provide shade, purify the air, capture and store carbon, and provide homes for living things above and below ground. ​