9 years and below
My favourite tree
There are many trees in this universe. But my most favourite one is the Banana tree. There are reasons for that. First it’s flowers. It produces a flower but it is not normal to the other flowers. It starts as a tiny oval shape and grows longer downwards. It is purple and pink in colour. When it is fully grown, small bananas appear one by one. When all the bananas are ripe, it remains at the end. Some people like to cook the flower and eat it.
When we are cutting the whole banana pack, we must cut the mother tree as well. Before that, the mother plant will produce a new baby plant to grow after her.
There are so many tasty varieties of banana plants. Ambun, Rath, Suwandal, Aanamaalu and Kolikuttu are some of them. What I like most is Aanamaalu. The Banana tree has very shady, long green leaves. People use them to wrap food. They steam the leaves and wrap food. It gives a lovely smell and taste to the food.
I have three banana trees planted in my garden. I am waiting to eat my own bananas. Eating bananas makes us energetic and it gives us lots of vitamins and minerals too.
So I like banana trees a lot.
Lasangaa Ranasinghe (9 years)
OKI Int. School, Kandana
10 – 12 years
The importance of trees in our environment
Imagine a world with no trees; deserts everywhere, ground that has cracked due to the burning red sun which shines fiercely, no living things to be seen, air hotter than the air inside an oven, not even a drop of water to be seen…
That will be the horrible fate of the Earth, if all the trees are cut down. Trees are more precious than the most dazzling of gemstones. Trees are the source of life and without trees, life will not exist.
Trees firstly and most importantly provide oxygen. Oxygen can only be produced by trees and oxygen is what animals need to breathe. With no oxygen, humans can live only up to two minutes and all animals will die. Trees also provide medicine which is important to cure sick people. Some of these medicines are quite expensive because they are obtained from rare trees. Shade is also given by trees, so humans can happily rest under the cooling shade. Trees are home to many animals who build nests on them or live in holes in them. Cutting a tree means many animals lose their homes. This is heart-breaking.
Some people think that life without trees will be fine. But they foolishly forget that trees start the food chains and without trees, all animals will die. So eventually humans will also die. Food is only produced by trees. Food, ranging from fruits, vegetables, yams to leaves, all comes from trees. Trees also make natural scenery very beautiful. They make the world enchanting.
Trees do not deserve to be cut. In fact they need to be protected and more trees need to be grown. They are so very important for our environment.
Devni Tillekeratne (11 years)
Musaeus College
13 – 15 years
International Day of Forests
When we drink a glass of water, write in a notebook, take medicine for a fever or build a house, we do not always make the connection with forests. And yet, these and many other aspects of our lives are linked to forests in one way or another.
Every March 21, the United Nations raises awareness of the importance of all types of forests. This year, the International Day of Forests promotes education to ‘Learn to Love Forests’. It underscores the importance of education at all levels in achieving sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation. Forests, their sustainable management and use of resources, including in fragile ecosystems are key to combating climate change and to contribute to the prosperity and wellbeing of current and future generation. Forests also play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and in the achievement of sustainable development goals.
You are never too young to start learning about trees. Understanding our forests and keeping them healthy is crucial for our future. Healthy forests mean healthy resilient communities and prosperous economies.
Amani Dawood (15 years)
Muslim Ladies’ College
