Youngsters are being urged to 'go green' by taking part in local conservation projects.

Oxford pupils have been invited to suggest local environmental schemes that they can join, as part of a national award scheme.

The Barclaycard LivingLand Awards are aimed at getting pupils to take more of an interest in local 'green' issues. Children can choose to join local projects with an environmental, wildlife, or conservation theme.

The launch of the scheme follows research commissioned by the award's organisers, that show only three per cent of eight to 11-year-olds in Oxford have heard of global warming, and one-in-three can not name an endangered species.

The awards are being run in conjunction with the Young People's Trust for the Environment.

The trust's celebrity patron, television presenter Rolf Harris said: "It is great to see schemes like this set up that encourage kids to take an active interest in the world around us.

"Pushing the environmental message continues to be an uphill struggle, and initiatives like this promise to make a lasting difference by educating kids about the issues at stake."

Young People's Trust for the Environment director Peter Littlewood, said: "There is an alarming amount of apathy and environmental ignorance in evidence among school children.

"Young people control the future of the earth's resources and we are giving Oxford kids the knowledge they need to make a difference."