Jean-Yves Bousquet and his family are carrying out a project close to their hearts: planting a new forest! A personal project to honor a farmer’s wife who died two years ago and who was passionate about trees. As part of the GAEC in Bellevue, in a place called Pardeillan, on a plot of one hectare belonging to them, around a hundred trees were planted last Thursday with the children of the Ribouisse school, in collaboration with the Association of Children and Trees.
The idea of involving children in the project was born in the mind of Jean-Yves Bousquet after one of his granddaughters living in Toulouse told him about the experience she had during a tree planting project with the association Des Enfants et des Arbres. The farmer then contacted the association. As he had a grandson going to school in Ribouisse, he decided to involve the students of the Aude school. They were excited about the idea of participating in this planting day.
The Ariège Chamber of Agriculture provided technical support, especially in the selection of species: around fifteen fruit trees of various species, hazelnuts and almonds, Lebanese cedar, arbut and numerous forest trees.
If Jean-Yves Bouosquet and his family are financing the project themselves, the support of partners has made it possible to reduce expenses. Appam garden center Clarac thus provided significant discounts and friends of Jean-Yves Bousquet put their hands in their pockets.
Decisive players in ecological transformation
Before the children arrived, Jean-Yves Bousquet and his son Brice prepared the plot well by digging holes and mulching them with local miscanthus. Planting day went very well. Twelve students from the Ribouisse school were delighted to participate in this project.
Designing an active, supportive and civic pedagogy that invites the young generation to connect with life by becoming an actor of change and environmental challenges, this is the mission of the Des Enfants et Des Arbres association. In three years, the association has already planted almost 50,000 trees with approximately 10,000 children among 180 farmers.
This civic and educational project allowed the children to better understand the challenges of the agricultural world, the values of commitment and the importance of respect for living creatures. They had the opportunity to become decisive actors in ecological transformation by creating authentic connections with those who feed us.