by Laureen Scharps, AIWC Frankfurt and FAWCO Secretary
Those of you who attended the Region 5 meeting hosted by AIWC Frankfurt in November 2022 may remember that you were given a pinecone with a tag indicating that a tree would be planted in the Taunus Forest near Frankfurt in your name. The project is the initiative of Irene Smetana, Founder of Travel & Tree. She was contacted by Heidi Jung, current AIWC Frankfurt President, to see what we could do to help revitalize our forest. Irene and her team have been working tirelessly to restore the Taunus Forest near Frankfurt and other forests in Germany. Travel & Tree see themselves as ambassadors for nature and our environment. They strive to protect our local forests, make them climate-friendly and preserve them for future generations. I am happy to report that many of the trees have taken root and look very healthy. Irene recently signed a three-year contract with a large, local company to plant 30,000 trees each year. Great news for our forests! I’m hoping other FAWCO clubs will be inspired to start their own tree plantings.
To learn more, you can visit the website at https://travelandtree.com/en/.