The international competition, aimed at young people, marks the International Year of Forests 2011.
Youth were asked to imagine themselves as a tree, writing a letter to someone to explain the importance of protecting forests.
12 August 2011: The UN Universal Postal Union has announced the winners of this year’s International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People. In keeping with the International Year of Forests 2011, this year’s topic was a plea to save the world’s forests. Youth were asked to imagine themselves as a tree, writing a letter to someone to explain the importance of protecting forests.
The winners of the 2011 competition, open to youth under the age of 15, were Charlée Gittens from Barbados and Wang Sa from China. Gittens’ entry, as the voice of a great oak in Guyana’s Windsor forest, compared the plight of forests to some of the world’s greatest crises. Wang’s entry, as an observant small tree prepared to care for humanity, used a parable of two villages to address the theme. [UN News Centre Story]