School children rally in support of The Prince’s Rainforests Project

Attracting thousands of frog designs, The Prince’s Rainforests Project’s “Win a Tree-mendous Rainforest Frog” competition has created a visual petition of staggering proportions in support of the rainforests from engaged school-aged children across the UK.

Working in collaboration with Eco-Schools, the Scouts, Cool It Schools, the Big Draw, and Wild in Art, the competition attracted over 12,500 designs in just four weeks from both primary and secondary school children.

Three designs were chosen from the three competitions that were run simultaneously. The winner of The Prince’s Rainforests Project / Big Draw and Cool It Schools competition was Katrina Reid, age 16, of The Latymer School in London, who decorated her frog with flags from nations around the world. The idea behind her design was that the life of this rainforest frog affects the life of everyone in every country. 

The Eco-Schools competition winner was Ezmay Jopling, age 13, of Shebbear College, Devon, for her Rainforest Fire frog design and the Scouts winner was Amy Board, age 8, of the cubs at Barton Scout Group, North Yorkshire.

The winners have received giant frog sculptures to paint and their finished frogs will be part of an exhibition that moves from St. James’s Palace to the National Geographic Store in London and then on to The Eden Project in Cornwall before they are returned to the winning schools and youth groups in 2010.

Briony Mathieson, Head of Communications at The Prince’s Rainforests Project, congratulated everyone who took part. “We appreciate everyone’s hard work to raise the awareness of the value of rainforests in schools and for the children’s imaginative designs. Long may rainforest projects continue to provide inspiration to so many children,” she said.

The schools’ initiative is part of a wider public awareness campaign that was launched by The Prince’s Rainforests Project on May 5th 2009.  Schools are being encouraged to help raise awareness among children, parents and their fellow educators through compelling learning in the classroom and the school community. To find out more visit www.rainforestSOS.org/schools.

For any school or scout group that was not lucky enough to win a giant frog, they are available from Wild in Art (email: Charlie@wildinart.co.uk).

My Perfect World photograph wins international competition

“My Perfect World, Help Keep It This Way” is the title of the photograph taken by Michael Dolan, age 11, of Scoil ui Cheithearnaigh in County Galway, Ireland, which won The Prince’s Rainforests Project for Schools/ Sony photography competition.

Photographer and judge Tom Stoddart said, 'Congratulations to all the young photographers who took part in The Prince's Rainforests Project Schools Competition. The high quality and diversity of the entries made judging very difficult, but also great fun! Michael Dolan's winning image of a beach on Achill Island in Ireland stood out for its sheer beauty and simplicity. It is an image called 'My Perfect World, Help Keep It This Way' and it reminds us of what mankind will lose if we continue to destroy the world’s forests, oceans and air”.

Michael’s image was chosen from five age category winners as the overall winner of the competition, and Darren Fantom, age 12, from Deincourt Community School in Derbyshire, was the runner up. The five winners and the runner up will receive a framed print of their image from The Prince’s Rainforests Project and their work will be exhibited at the National Geographic Store in London’s Regent Street from 22nd November. In addition their schools will receive a Sony Cyber-shot S-series camera and a Digital Photo Printer.

All the winning and highly commended images, as well as a selection of other entries that stood out for their quality and creativity, have been made into eCards, available from The Prince’s Rainforests Project for Schools site at www.rainforestSOS.org/schools.

The schools competition, designed to raise awareness of the role that trees and forests play in our everyday lives and their importance in combating climate change, attracted over 650 entries.  There were four categories: The beauty of the rainforests, Rainforests in your daily life, What climate change means to you and What trees mean to you.   Winners were chosen for the following five age groups: 4-7; 8-10; 11-13; 14-16; 17-18 years.

Briony Mathieson, Head of Communications at The Prince’s Rainforests Project said: “We need to put trees and forests at the heart of the climate change agenda. Schools play a critical role in helping to educate and inform the next generation and we have been amazed at the incredibly powerful images from school-aged children.”

The schools initiative is part of a wider public awareness campaign that was launched by The Prince’s Rainforests Project on 5th May 2009.  Schools are being encouraged to sign up and help raise awareness among children, parents and their fellow educators through compelling learning in the classroom and the school community. To find out more, visit www.rainforestSOS.org/schools.

About The Prince’s Rainforests Project

The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP) was established in October 2007 by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to develop consensus as to how the rate of rainforest destruction might be slowed. Rainforests regulate rainfall, preserve biodiversity and, most importantly, store vast amounts of carbon. Tropical deforestation is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions and without tackling this problem it may be impossible to avoid catastrophic climate change. The PRP is working with governments, international businesses and non-profit organisations to find a solution. To find out more visit www.rainforestSOS.org

About National Geographic

The National Geographic Society is one of the world’s largest non-profit scientific and educational organisations. Founded in 1888 to “increase and diffuse geographic knowledge,” the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. National Geographic magazine, the Society’s official journal, published in English and 31 local-language editions, is read by more than 40 million people each month. The National Geographic Channel reaches over 270 million households in 34 languages in 166 countries. National Geographic Digital Media receives more than 12 million visitors a month. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education programme combating geography illiteracy. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com.

The National Geographic London Store was awarded top prize for “Retail Destination of the Year” at Retail Interiors Awards. For more information, visit www.nglondonstore.co.uk.

National Geographic Store
83-97 Regent Street
London W1B 4EW
Tel: 020 7025 6960

About The Eden Project

The Eden Project, one of the UK's top attractions located in Cornwall, is home to the UK’s largest rainforest in captivity – the Rainforest biome – along with a number of other unique biomes. Each biomes houses plants that have been collected from all around the world. The project was conceived by Tim Smit and the first part of the Eden Project, the visitor centre, opened to the public in May 2000. The full site opened on 17 March 2001. For more information, visit www.edenproject.com.