Tens of thousands of oak trees have been planted across Wales thanks to young people connecting with nature.

Natural Resources Wales’ (NRW) annual Acorn Antics campaign encourages schools across the country to collect seeds to grow more trees from locally collected acorns.

Following the 2022 campaign, 49,000 saplings grown in a tree nursery have now been planted.

The collected acorns allow NRW to grow native trees from the seed of healthy local tree stock whilst connecting youngsters with the Welsh natural environment.

Increasing the tree canopy across Wales is a crucial part of efforts to tackle the climate and nature emergencies and to help achieve the nation’s net zero carbon ambitions.

In 2022, 825kg of acorns were collected from 40 locations across Wales generating £3,442 for the education settings that rolled up their sleeves, embraced the fresh air and scoured the ground for acorns.

Aled Hopkin, NRW’s Specialist Advisor for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills, said: “It is great to see the results from the campaign as oak trees start getting planted across Wales.

“Acorns are collected from a range of locations including school fields, parks, farms, village hall grounds and housing estates.

“I would like to thank everyone who has taken part in Acorn Antics, we value each group’s participation as we look to help our natural environment.

“With an ever-changing climate, Welsh oak trees face a fight for survival against pests and diseases. Trees grown from local seed stock will have a higher growth rate and ability to survive and resist diseases than trees grown and imported from further afield.

“This is part of our wider work to reverse the decline in biodiversity, and to build the resilience of ecosystems so nature can adapt and continue to provide the basis of all life – clean air, clean water, food and a stable climate.

“We are now looking forward to planting the trees from the 2023 campaign and collecting even more acorns when Acorn Antics returns in September.”

Once collected the acorns are delivered to a tree nursery for grading, weighing and planting.

When they have developed into small trees, they are planted within the area from which they were collected as acorns.