More than 2,000 native plants are set to be part of a tiny forest at Cathy Middle School in McAllen.

The school partnered with the Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center for this project. 

"If they do what they're doing here today, planting trees, they get their hands into the project, if you will," Quinta Mazatlan board member Daniel Vela said. "It's something that stays with them for life."

As part of the project, students learn about native plants and how to care for them. 

"We cannot walk into a store today and buy these native plants, they're not available," Quinta Mazatlan Manager Colleen Hook said. "So we've been growing these 2,000 plants for this forest for years now." 

Some of the seeds that were planted were the Mexican White Oak, the Hackberry and the Texas Mountain Laurel.