A few months ago, Marjolein Kloek (43) was appointed managing director of Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag, an organisation with which GrootGroenPlus has maintained close ties for many years. High time to get to know her better.

Marjolein Kloek had already worked at Staatsbosbeheer, the government organisation that was involved in the founding of Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag for many years. Most recently as team leader for People and Society. Through its nature education programme, Staatsbosbeheer introduces children and young people to nature in a playful way. And that is where the connection with Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag lies.

Marjolein Kloek: "Because of the close contacts and collaboration with the foundation, I knew the previous director, Marleen van der Ham, very well. When Marleen told me she was going to step down as director and casually asked whether her job might be something for me, it certainly sparked my interest. In short, I applied and, to my delight, I was selected from several candidates as her successor."

Sense of pride
Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag was certainly not new to her. "I vividly remember taking part in it with my school class, helping to plant trees on a noise barrier in Enschede on a rainy day. We thought it was a very big deal. We were incredibly proud, and even more so when a nice article about it appeared in the local newspaper. I wish every child could experience the sense of pride that comes from being involved with nature and the love for nature that it inspires."

Collaboration
The origins of Stichting Nationale Boomfeestdag go back many years. On 10 April 1957, the first event, then called Landelijke Boomplantdag, was organised in Apeldoorn, involving 1,600 children. Today, tens of thousands of children plant trees and shrubs every year during the Boomfeestdag planting season.
"In the past, almost all municipalities participated as well," says Marjolein, "but that has gradually changed. I see it as an important task for us as a foundation to further develop our mission: ‘A tree for every child’. To achieve that, we need to lower the threshold and collaborate even more with other parties. Schools will, of course, remain important partners, but we are also keen to work with all kinds of other organisations. Not only with government bodies, but also, for example, with sponsors and organisations from the green industry. We have a great partnership with Stichting NatuurWijs, through which we jointly contribute to Staatsbosbeheer’s educational programme. And for many years, we have been the designated charity of the GrootGroenPlus trade fair."

Marjolein Kloek considers lowering the threshold for contact with nature very important. "That is why we also want to strengthen our educational offering. For example, we have a great Boomfeestdag activity folder containing all kinds of activities. Since this year, these ideas for educational activities have also been available digitally on our website: boomfeestdag.nl/educatie. This makes it even easier for those interested to organise an inspiring tree celebration for children. During the past planting season, 213 Boomfeestdag events were registered with us, but there were undoubtedly more. And together with other parties, we would like to expand this further. We also have a great collaborative project with farmers, Boerenboomfeestdagen, where children help plant hedges, avenues, small wooded areas or food forests."
As managing director, Marjolein Kloek has a helicopter view of all activities and maintains contacts with sponsors, government bodies and numerous other organisations, but she also emphasises the importance of collaboration.

"We are a small and very enthusiastic team and there is a lot going on, so I am always happy to step in wherever needed. We do it together. The objective formulated in 1957 — ‘to make the Dutch public, and children in particular, aware of the importance of trees and forests’ — is still very much alive."