Minister van der Wal (Nitrogen and Nature) plants tree on National Tree Day in Zundert

Every child a tree

Yesterday, Nov. 16, Minister van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen) planted the first tree during the 65^ste National Celebration of Tree Day. This took place at the business park for tree cultivation; Business Centre Treeport (BCT) in the municipality of Zundert. The minister also participated in the panel discussion on how governments, business and other parties in the province of North Brabant, are making the Netherlands greener. It was discussed how to actively involve children and young people to make their own living environment greener.

Over 1,000 trees and shrubs were planted on the green sustainable business park today. Including 12 large trees in a Circle of Trees and 3 large trees right on the border between the Netherlands and Belgium. Of course, the minister also planted a tree. She helped children's mayor Ties and the Zundert Children's Council to plant the first tree in the Circle of Trees. Mayor Joyce Vermue (municipality of Zundert), Marc Lodders (chairman BCT/Treeport), Albert Verlinde (chairman Supervisory Board of Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag), Marleen van den Ham (Director Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag), Dijkgraaf Kees Jan de Vet (Waterschap Brabantse Delta), Gedeputeerde Hagar Roijackers (Province of Noord-Brabant) and Debbie Kamphuis (Staatsbosbeheer) also helped with the planting of this tree.

(Working with) Trees!

The theme of the 2022 National Tree Day Celebration is 'Working (with) trees!'. This theme focuses on the tree nursery sector. It lays the foundation for new trees and forests in the Netherlands and abroad. The theme shows how important trees are for people and how beautiful it is for children and young people to choose a green profession.

Municipality of Zundert and Business Centre Treeport (BCT).

Municipality of Zundert and BCT are proud to be in partnership to host the National Tree Day Celebration in 2022. The tree growing sector is an incredibly important sector in the local and regional economy. Zundert is known at home and abroad for its tree growing sector: from nurseries to traders and transport companies. The theme '(Working with) Trees!' therefore suits this green municipality very well.

The industry benefits enormously from promoting the sector among young people. Getting them excited will also ensure that there will be enough motivated and qualified personnel available in the future.

Tree Day 2023 in Amstelveen

While over 400 pupils from Zundert and Stad Hoogstraten (Belgium) were busy with workshops on trees, forests, soil, water, a liveable future and tree nursery, Albert Verlinde (chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag) announced which municipality would be the host municipality in 2023 during the network lunch for the invited guests. Ralph Bogers, alderman for Economy and Sustainability of the municipality of Zundert symbolically handed over the baton to Floor Gordon, alderman for (among other things) green, sustainability, healthy living environment and nature and environmental education of the municipality of Amstelveen.

Forest Strategy

The Netherlands has had a forest and tree policy again since 2020: the Forest Strategy. The ambition is to revitalize forests, develop new forest (37,000 ha; about 1% of the Netherlands) and strengthen the green-blue interlacing of the landscape (about 10% of the Netherlands). It is a joint implementation process with provinces, but municipalities, water boards and other landowners are also important in the implementation. In this forest strategy, Minister van der Wal's predecessor had it included that children are allowed to help plant trees during school hours during the Boomfeestdag.

65 years of Tree Day

The Forestry Commission established the Tree Day in 1957. The first Tree Festival Day, then called Tree Planting Day, was organized on April 10, 1957. In that year, 1,600 students in Apeldoorn planted several hundred trees. Since that time, the Tree Day has grown into a phenomenon and every year 100,000 children plant some 200,000 trees and shrubs. Over 13 million trees have now been planted by some 5 million in those 65 years.

Under the motto 'every child a tree', the National Tree Day Foundation wants to bring every child into contact with trees and forests in order to teach them about nature. By planting a tree, children discover that they themselves can do something for a better climate and a healthier environment. It stimulates them to make sustainable choices and to dedicate themselves to nature.