The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Woods, has launched a multimedia awareness programme as part of the celebration of National Tree Week. The initiative will focus on transition year students in the form of an interactive CD-Rom game. Players will experiment with forestry management to learn about trees and forests.

The project hopes to open up the world of forestry to young people through the imaginative use of technology. It is structured around six, five-lesson modules that will run over the educational calendar year. The project will be supported by a website, www.projectforest.com. It is hoped the project will eventually extend to most of the 502 schools in the Republic.