el Día del Árbol

Getting children to plant trees seems to be a local tradition. Eladia, the daughter of our neighbours Pepe and Eladia Grau, remembers planting a pine tree at La Pedrera when she was in primary school. It is a tradition that gives children ownership and respect for their environment and seems to me a wonderful idea.

At the house we last owned in England we had a pair of silver birch trees - one in the front garden and one in the back. We also planted a yew tree at the front. The trees gave us shelter from the wind, helped drain the soil and provided privacy. The people who bought the house from us have subsequently cut the trees down covering most of the front garden with tarmac - very sad.

On the 3rd February, 500 children from the Reyes Católicos, Molivent andEscuela del Campo de Guardamar schools will take part in celebrations of the Day of the Tree. To mark the occasion, the children will plant 800 trees and bushes in the Parque de Alfonso XIII in Guardamar.

Each tree will be labelled with the child's name so that they can identify and take care of them until the trees are fully grown. To help, the children have been given detailed information about the particular trees they will be planting.

A little bit of history

Planting trees in Guardamar dates back to 1907 when Ricardo Codorniu (nicknamed 'the Apostle of the Tree') started the process of repopulating the sand dunes at Guardamar with trees and has continued ever since.