Lindenow South Primary School students were out to play their part in the restoration of the upper reaches of Skull Creek last week on an excursion to connect to community and country.
CEO, East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Graeme Dear said, “the project is funded under the Victorian State Governments ‘Our Catchment, Our Communities’ plan which is supporting greater community involvement in managing our catchments.”
Working alongside members of Greening Australia (GA) and the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation’s On Country crew, nineteen students planted five hundred of the endangered ‘Swamp Everlasting’ and ‘Woolly Waterlily’ plants, and even found time to investigate the critters that live in the waterholes with the team from Bug Blitz.
“It’s great to be able to involve schools and the community to understand the importance of these wetland environments” noted Martin Potts, Project Manager for Gippsland at GA. “It’s not just about planting trees but the habitat as a whole. The waterholes along Skull Creek are very significant to this landscape so we need to understand that it’s not just about water but what’s living in the water, what feeds off that and how it all interacts”.
“Anything that gets the kids out of classroom is a good idea and met with 100% enthusiasm.” said Principal Michael Walker, “It was a magical excursion. The kids were all excited and it’s just opened up a new chapter of biological sciences at the school.”
