A new website offering a huge variety of educational resources to help teachers give lessons on the benefits of trees and woodlands has just gone live.
The Forest Education Initiative (FEI) website will help schools and groups throughout Wales to develop ideas and activities that improve children’s understanding of the natural environment around them.
Forestry Commission Wales supports FEI in Wales, which is made up of a network of people interested in woodland-based learning including teachers, Forest School practitioners, woodland owners and timber industry representatives.
Members of the FC Wales Woodlands for Learning (WfL) team offer guidance to the 23 FEI cluster groups which develop local programmes for children in their area.
The new website replaces an older version which was unable to keep up with the demand as more and more schools and community groups sought information.
Groups can also apply for grants online for the first time – and the Dyfi FEI cluster group has already become the first to use this facility.
Kim Burnham of the WfL team and FEI Co-ordinator for Wales said, “We’re delighted with this new site, which is much more in tune with the needs of today’s environmental educators.
“The site is clean, fresh and easy to use, making it a much better tool to coordinate FEI right across GB.”
All the educational resources will be updated and reorganised over the coming months to make them readily available to teachers and groups planning woodland visits.
The site also has a Facebook link and can be viewed at www.foresteducation.org
