Totally Wild Schools Plantings

Tree planting excursion for local school children

Totally Wild Schools Plantings

Tree planting excursion for local school children

Building our Future -

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The issue

The challenge was to get more school kids outdoors and get their hands dirty.  Brunswick Valley Landcare also wanted to identify funding for special projects from sources other than government grants.

The solution

We approached North Byron Parklands, the site that hosts Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival, about a collaborative project.  They agreed and we approached 3 local schools to participate in a tree planting excursion.

Through 2 weeks in May and June 2017 we held 4 days of tree planting with 3 local primary schools.  272 school children ranging in age from kindergarten to Year 6 planted over 1300 trees.

While onsite the children rotated through 3 activities – tree planting, sign painting and a walk to look at some of the 22,000 trees that have been planted on the site over the past 10 years.

The project was funded by North Byron Parklands who paid for the buses, hire of the toilet, the tractor and tractor driver, the trees, and bush regenerators for the day.  Brunswick Valley Landcare contributed inkind volunteer hours on the days.  We also partnered with Tweed Landcare for one of the days as one of the schools is in Tweed Shire.

North Byron Parklands media team also contributed their skills and Ocean Shores School stage 3 students also had a visit from the Totally Wild TV crew and ranger Stacey who filmed a story that aired on September 13th 2017 channel 11.  The episode can be viewed at http://tenplay.com.au/channel-eleven/totally-wild Season 24, episode 139 and fast forward to 19:45 minutes.

The ride on the tractor trailer was the highlight of the day!  And this only happened as the site was too wet and boggy to walk to, like we originally planned.  North Byron Parklands provided the tractor and the driver for all 4 days as it was so popular on the first day.  So a last minute solution to a problem turned into the most exciting part of the day.

The impact

All the kids had fun and it was great to hear the children talk so eloquently about why we plant trees.  Hopefully the children will remember these experiences as adults and help to make out world a better place.

We built strong relationships with the North Byron Parklands team and 3 local schools and will do it all again next year.

Key facts

  • Schools Tree planting
  • 272 school children
  • 1300 native trees planted over 0.5ha
  • 2 local media articles – the Byron Shire Echo and the Northern Star
  • Story on Totally Wild TV series
  • Partnered with a local business to provide a free educational experience to local schools

Project Partners