Windswept Students Demonstrate Value of Planting Shelterbelts
A very windswept day demonstrated to all of us the need for the shelterbelt we were planting out at Faulkner Park Equestrian Centre with students from Launceston Church Grammar School (LCGS).
Grade 5 and 6 students did a ‘round robin’ of activities through the day, rotating between tree planting, a short habitat restoration workshop on what we were planting and why, and school sport. Grade 10 Agricultural and year 11 and 12 TCE Outdoor Leadership students helped mentor the younger ones, water in the plants, secure guards, and bed in any plants. A great team effort.
Photo: Primary and High school students working together with the Landcare Tasmania team planting out a wildlife corridor and shelterbelt at Faulkner Park. Photo supplied by LCGS.
The students were excited to be out of the classroom and getting their hands, well in this case gloves, into the dirt to plant some plants. Throughout the day 85 primary, and 20 high school students helped the Landcare Tasmania Education and Nursery teams get in over 250 trees, shrubs, grasses, and sedges to finish off 700 m of shelterbelts around the equestrian ground. Trowels troweled and mallots malloted to help create habitat for native wildlife living and moving along the Kanamaluka / Tamar estuary, shelter for people using the sports fields, and potential for future outdoor learning on the site, monitoring the habitat and shelterbelt values as the plants grow and establish.
Image: Each class planted one 20 metre section of the shelterbelt with mix of 11 different native species.
Students understood the value of planting a variety of plants, with one commenting “it is cool to be able to do something to help our wildlife, I hope it lasts into the future”.
Photos: Students undertaking the revegetation activity, planting plants, guarding them and writing information for future monitoring. Photo supplied by LCGS.
Along with digging in the dirt, students discussed what different species they had planted, how the variety of plants would help different insects and wildlife, how the shelterbelt was being created and maintained, and the importance of urban native vegetation and habitat connectivity. Finally, a game of Cat Chasies allowed them to expel some energy and use their imagination to bring together their learning and doing by exploring the role of habitat and revegetation in protecting wildlife from introduced species like feral cats.
One student lamented that it “wasn’t fair on the ‘cats’ in the game when there was so much ‘vegetation’ protecting everyone from being caught”, which of course is the point.
Photo: Gill from the Launceston Tasmania Education Program talking to students about how they were helping insects and wildlife with their planting. Photo supplied by LCGS.
The Launceston Church Grammar School Planting and Education Project was established as a partnership between Landcare Tasmania, LCGS, and the JM Roberts Charitable Trust to enhance biodiversity, provide hands-on education opportunities, and foster community participation in urban revegetation. The project emerged from previous collaborations between Landcare Tasmania and the Trust, which identified schools as key locations for demonstrating sustainable landscape restoration and environmental education in action.
Photo: JMRT trustees visited the site with the LCGS principal to see the site and talk to students about the day. Photo supplied by LCGS.
Photo: Watering in the final plants. Students wrote on the guards to help with future monitoring.
A big thank you to the LCGS staff for assisting with the organization of the day, the LCGS grounds crew for all their work leading up to the event and with ongoing maintenance, and the JM Roberts Charitable Trust for all their support in creating this practical site for outdoor learning and caring for the environment.
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