On 7 August, Jake Gutteridge, Co-Director of LIAT, attended the conference "From the Unseen to the Unstoppable", held by Small Drops at Highgate Hill Murugan Temple in London, and gave a presentation on the importance of trees to the world.

He noted that trees play positive roles in all aspects of our lives, including our mental and physical health, our respective cultures, the wildlife around us, and the entire planet, and why we need to respect and protect trees in order to survive as a species in the long-term.

Notably, this event was attended entirely by members of the South Asian Hindu community, with distinguished members visiting from Sri Lanka and India, therefore Jake felt it was important to point out concerns over the attitudes of the people in that region towards the environment; the audience agreed that there are widespread issues of littering, pollution, and lack of care towards nature.

Jake emphasised that this issue in the region of South Asia is not the fault of the people there, but rather a lack of sufficient education about the importance of nature and why one should treat it with respect and discourage practices that harm trees, plants, and wildlife.

We distributed Tree Fun Facts information booklets to those interested, and affirmed our commitment to advancing environmental education and promoting greater respect and understanding of trees around the world.