Ysgol Porth y Felin, Conwy

After learning about tropical forests and forest-risk commodities on their deforestation free journey, students at Ysgol Porth y Felin in Conwy set off to share their knowledge and influence positive change.

Firstly, the students shared their knowledge about the role of ethical certification in sustainable timber supplies through a Forestry Stewardship Commission (FSC) themed school book swap run by the teachers and class 5 pupils. They advertised the event to the wider community to encourage participation and a strong focus was placed on the triple R hierarchy of reduce, reuse and recycle, to help tackle deforestation associated with products made from timber, paper and pulp.

Next, they created a survey to find out about the coffee buying habits of the adults in their school and gave a presentation to staff about the importance of buying Fairtrade products. 

They held a Fairtrade coffee afternoon for the whole school, teachers and wider community, where they sold Fairtrade cakes and encouraged others to choose Fairtrade to help support farmers and forests. The students also made some Fairtrade posters to display at the event. 

Finally, they designed and delivered a whole school assembly to pupils and staff to raise awareness about tropical deforestation and what people can do to help. The content included the locations of tropical forests around the world, the rate of deforestation, the people and animals affected by deforestation and some simple actions that people can take here to be a deforestation free champion. 

Next they plan to investigate their school menu for forest-risk commodities and write to their local council/catering company to discuss their findings.