Hay Celebrates National School’s Tree Day
Hay Celebrates National School’s Tree Day
The last Friday in July is dedicated to National Schools Tree Day. This year, Hay Public School helped Hay Shire Council and Murrumbidgee Landcare celebrate, learning about the importance of trees in their environment.
Community Participation
The issue
National School’s Tree Day is a great way to inspire students to learn about the local environment while playing an active role in their community. Partnering with Hay Shire Council and Planet Ark is a positive and collaborative approach to working with local schools, creating simple, beneficial environmental actions. Leading environmental behaviour change in the next generation is key to helping people reduce their impact on the environment and enhance their connection with nature.
The solution
National Schools Tree Day is a great opportunity to inspire and educate future generations on the many benefits of trees and connection with nature. Murrumbidgee Landcare partnered with Hay Shire Council and invited the local schools to get involved and assist planting trees at the newly opened Adventure Zone. The children learnt about a number of reasons why we should plant trees; to tackle climate change, to clean the air, to prevent soil erosion & improve water quality, to create & restore habitats, and to improve your mental & physical health. They also created a large Community Tree out of leaf rubbings that will be displayed in the Hay Shire Council foyer to commemorate the event.
The impact
Established in 1996, Planet Ark's National Tree Day has grown into Australia's largest community tree planting and nature care event. The program is a call to action for all Australians to get their hands dirty and give back to their community. Since its inception, 26 million trees have been planted and 5 million volunteers have dedicated 10 million hours of their time. Hay Public School classes 3J and 4H, with their teachers and leaning support officers, enjoyed visiting the Adventure Zone to learn about the importance of trees in their environment, plant mature trees they can check on each time they visit the park and create a Community Tree that they can see displayed in the Council office.
Key facts
- 50 people attended Hay’s National Schools Tree Day
- 5 mature trees planted
- Community Tree created and on display in the Hay Shire Council office foyer