Green charity Earthwatch is offering secondary school pupils the chance to win up to £500 to develop an environmental project.

Schools are invited to develop a way to bring a piece of degraded local land back to life, whether it is an overgrown copse, a polluted pond or an abandoned garden.

Pupils with the most enterprising and practical proposals will be asked to take part in the Oxford Student Debate at Oxford University.

Six schools will compete for a grant of up to £500, which will allow them to start a conservation project.

All proposals will be assessed by experts from Earthwatch and Oxford University and the winning students will need to argue persuasively for their project in front of a public audience, who will be asked to vote for the winner.

Nigel Winser, Earthwatch executive director, said: "Earthwatch is dedicated to educating more people about environmental issues and this begins at home. We sincerely hope that the students and teachers of Oxfordshire will rise to this challenge."

Any schools wishing to get involved should contact Earthwatch on 01865 318856, or email events@earthwatch.org.uk. The closing date for applications is Friday, March 9.

The debate will take place on Tuesday, June 19, at 2pm to 4pm, and a Debate Advice Pack will be available to all schools.

Earthwatch supports more than 130 environmental research projects in 50 countries by providing funds and paying volunteers who work alongside leading field scientists and researchers. For more information about Earthwatch visit the www.earthwatch.org/europe website.