Supported by: Audrey Nicoll*, Stephanie Callaghan*, Jeremy Balfour*, David Torrance*, Annabelle Ewing*, Karen Adam*, Siobhian Brown*, Bill Kidd*, Alexander Burnett*, Miles Briggs*, Pam Gosal*, Paul Sweeney* *S6M-05618 Stephanie Callaghan: Trees for Birthdays Initiative Launches Connecting Communities, Forests and Schools in Tanzania and Scotland—That the Parliament welcomes the launch of Trees for Birthdays, an initiative connecting communities in Tanzania and Scotland to empower climate action through planting and nurturing trees and other valuable plants; understands that Trees for Birthdays is a project born out of COP26, where co-founders Shamim Zawadi and Jen Newall connected and looked at ways to collaborate on their shared ambition to take bold climate action together; further understands that Trees for Birthdays was ignited between the two countries on 11 April 2022 to mark Jen’s birthday when she raised the funds for the planting and guardianship of 89 trees at Vigwaza Secondary School near Saadani National Park, Tanzania, overseen by Shamim; believes that the Bothwell and Uddingston Green Canopy Project in South Lanarkshire donated 100 trees, which have been planted in Comrie Croft, Scotland, and that these are twinned with the trees planted by Shamim in Tanzania; understands that Shamim and Jen have established Trees for Birthdays with the aim of encouraging and inspiring a collaborative approach to climate action, drawing upon local grassroots initiatives to address global challenges; believes that the initiative is not only about planting trees but also growing and nurturing the trees over time, which is often overlooked when discussing tree- planting, and understands that Trees for Birthdays will deliver a climate change education caravan in the lead up to COP27, in which it will deliver climate education and a day of action at 22 schools in Tanzania and 22 schools in Scotland, establishing connections for the twinning of Tanzanian and Scottish schools, forests and communities.