A short animated film featuring a red squirrel from Cumbria has won an international education award, shining a global spotlight on how trees can help tackle flooding

and climate change.

‘Wood You Believe It’ has been awarded the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (IPST) Education Award at the Goethe Institute’s ‘Science Film Festival 2025’. The festival attracted more than 1,500 submissions from 110 countries, with just 123 films selected for competition. It is estimated to reach a worldwide audience of more than half a million viewers.

The film forms part of a series of four Creature Comforts-style animations designed to explain natural flood management (NFM) in an engaging and accessible way. The project was funded by the Environment Agency and developed in partnership with Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the Cumbria Innovation Flood Resilience (CiFR) project.

Natural flood management uses landscape-based techniques to slow the flow of water during heavy rainfall, reducing flood risk for downstream communities and infrastructure such as bridges. As the films demonstrate, these approaches can also help improve water quality, support wildlife and reduce the impacts of climate change.

At the heart of ‘Wood You Believe It’ is Twiggy, a Cumbrian red squirrel who guides viewers through the many benefits of trees. From reducing flooding, drought and extreme heat to storing carbon and supporting biodiversity, Twiggy explains how woodlands play a vital role in building climate resilience.

The film is voiced by Annabel Rushton, an RSPB expert based at Haweswater Nature Reserve. All voiceovers across the series were recorded by local people working in fields including conservation, farming, flood risk management and water quality. Each film highlights real examples of natural flood management already being successfully delivered across Cumbria.

The Environment Agency’s David Kennedy (also the voice of Gregory the Woodpecker) explains the first series of films creation process began during Covid:

“I had an idea of how to reach the public to explain natural flood management during lockdown which was to create a series of simple and engaging animated films to tell our story.

I wrote the films over a few months, by which time I was working on the CiFR project. My aim was to try and make the films as impactful as possible in the three to four minutes we had.

The overall impact of these films has been really heartening for me and all my colleagues who contributed their knowledge and experience; we’re all really proud of what we’ve achieved, and it’s terrific to recognised by such a brilliant festival”.

A Joy to Make

Cadi Catlow, Director of Wood You Believe It, said:

“Making this film was an absolute joy for me because it combined two of my personal passions - wildlife and research! Twiggy the Red Squirrel was built as a life-sized, anatomically-correct puppet with a huge amount of attention to detail … though her face was gently worked into a slightly cartoonish direction around the eyes and mouth to help with the animation. Her cheerful, expressive voice actually belongs to a real expert working in the field, and the character animator used this as a great foundation for adding bags of extra personality through physical performance.

The filming … was done by a small crew of fabulous people, all committed to sharing the important information around flooding, climate and protecting our natural habitats for future generations. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it!”

Graham Jackson-Pitt, Interim Director of Nature Recovery at Cumbria Wildlife Trust, said:

“Congratulations to the filmmakers of Wood You Believe It for this great accolade: winning this Science Film Festival award will bring the benefits of natural flood management to a much wider audience. Cumbria Wildlife Trust is working hard with local landowners, farmers and partners across Cumbria to make our landscape more resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis, including flooding and drought.

‘Wood You Believe It’ is one of 4 films in the second of two series. The first series also won an award: at the Learning on Screen Awards in 2023”.