A PROJECT aimed at helping young people see the wood from the trees is about to take root across the North-East.

Seed to Saw - a pioneering regional educational initiative - is launching a website to make children more aware of forests and how they are becoming an important growth industry in the region.

Forests, timber and related activities net the region about £425m each year, and employ up to 30,000 people.

Now project partners One NorthEast, Forest Education Initiative, the Forestry Commission and the Great North Forest, are bidding to build on that success by linking classrooms with the industry, using the internet site.

The site www.seedto saw.org has materials, video clips and assignments, enabling schools to create studies linked to the trade.

Among the schools involved developing the site have been Ashley Primary in South Tyneside, and Bishop Ian Ramsey Primary in Medomsley, County Durham.

Great North Forest director John Vaughan said: "What makes this project unique is the way schools, public agencies and businesses have come together, linking all aspects of forestry from managing woods to making timber products, while also looking at eco-issues."