Tree-Planting: A Powerful Education Tool
The AXA Foundation for Human Progress partners with the association Des Enfants et des Arbres to accelerate the agroecological transition in France. Together, we bring farmers and schoolchildren around a shared goal: using tree-planting projects as powerful educational tools to restore biodiversity, protect soils, and reconnect young people with the land.
Through this partnership, we support a nationwide program of hands-on workshops where classes help plant hedgerows and agroforestry trees on nearby farms. These activities are integrated into structured learning pathways, designed to make environmental education concrete, positive, and action oriented.
Addressing Farmers’ Climate and Soil Challenges
Across France, farmers face growing pressure on their ecosystems: soil erosion, declining yields, biodiversity loss, and increasing exposure to extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves. These challenges weaken not only agricultural production but also rural landscapes and communities.
Agroforestry and bocage hedges are recognized as effective, nature-based solutions to these issues. Trees help to:
Protect and stabilize soils, reducing erosion
Improve water infiltration, retention, and filtration
Moderate wind and temperature variations, creating microclimates
Capture and store carbon, while providing habitats for biodiversity
By supporting Des Enfants et des Arbres, we contribute to the deployment of these solutions at farm level, while strengthening trust and dialogue between farmers and local communities.
Empowering Children through Funded Tree-Planting Workshops
The core of the program is a series of educational workshops that turn tree-planting into a formative experience for children. Pupils (from 4th to 7th grade) take part in real planting projects on farms, typically planting around 250 trees per class. These are not just one-off outings but key steps in a broader pedagogical journey:
Before the planting day, farmers visit their partner class to present their work, explain the role of field trees and hedgerows, and show how the project will transform the local landscape.
Teachers use a dedicated toolkit to incorporate the project into multiple subjects (science, geography, literature, arts, math), linking climate and biodiversity topics to tangible action.
On site, children learn how to plant and protect trees and discover, in real conditions, the connections between agriculture, ecosystems, and climate resilience.
Our funding supports 16 agroforestry planting projects across France, each with a dedicated €5,000 envelope. This enables:
The involvement of 480 children and 16 farmers around joint planting projects
The planting of approximately 4,000 trees that contribute to soil protection, water regulation, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity
The production of educational content and visibility for these initiatives, reinforcing their impact at national level
Through these workshops, children experience themselves as active contributors to the future of their territories. They build knowledge, confidence, and a sense of responsibility toward the living world.
By combining support for farmers and transformative learning experiences for young people, we help grow a new generation of citizens ready to engage in the agroecological transition.