Prince Harry has helped plant a tree with schoolchildren during a visit to Epping Forest.
Prince Harry
The 32-year-old royal made a trip to the forest, which is located in north east London and Essex, in order to learn more about ancient woodland's historic heritage, as well as the work being done by the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy (QCC) project.
The QCC is a conservation initiative that is working with Epping Forest in an attempt to reinstate cattle grazing across 1,500 acres of woodland, by using satellite collars on the animals as well as fenceless technology to allow them to roam free.
QCC was launched by Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth two years ago in an appeal to the 52 Commonwealth nations to contribute areas of indigenous forest to be preserved.
During his visit to the forest, Prince Harry met with several schoolchildren from Walker Primary School, where he helped teach them about the importance of the outdoors.
He told the children: "[It is] brilliant to run around outside, especially in the mud. When I was at school I never got to do any of this stuff."
Whilst the prince got to work planting a tree at the site, he also admitted he probably wasn't the best person when it comes to gardening, as the flowers at his home had bloomed "too early".
Kate Masters, the heritage school officer, said of Harry's lack of green fingers: "He said his own daffodils had come out a bit too early so wouldn't last. He wasn't happy about that."
Prince Harry was also briefed on wood pasture management and met arborist teams involved with ancient tree conservation work during his visit to Epping Forest, as well as helping the schoolchildren with educational conservation activities such as pond dipping.
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