Central Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Regional Events 2019
Since 2018, Youth Environment Council (YEC) regional events have been held to allow members opportunities to connect, engage in local environmental activities and to share their progress on their individual project.
This year, YEC members in the Central Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region, identified flora, fauna and local Landcare activities as areas of particular interest. In response to this, the NRM Education team organised a one-day event on Wednesday 4 September, for members to meet with local land care groups and learn about their work. The event was attended by nine students from nine different schools, who travelled by minibus to visit various locations in Upper Sturt and Belair where the Landcare groups are based.
In the morning, the YEC members met Rick and Albert from the Friends of Sturt Gorge at the Renwick Street riparian restoration site. Rick and Albert led a tour of the area explaining their work and showcasing the weeding and revegetation they have undertaken over the last eleven years; including the removal of olives and boneseed on the slopes surrounding the creek. The students enjoyed the hands-on activity of helping to cut back the olives, a demonstration of how the olive trees can be killed with the drill-and-fill method, and the opportunity to see the interactive map the volunteers use to track the areas they have worked on, and to record their wildlife sightings.
Following lunch at the Belair National Park Volunteer Centre, the YEC members met volunteers from the Sturt Upper Reaches Landcare Group to learn about their activities. Students visited various areas the group have been caring for, learnt about the work of the younger Bush Buddies group and about local native and pest plant species. They were also shown useful local flora and fauna resources they can explore further. Students enjoyed learning to identify local plant species, doing some hand weeding and, although there were no sightings, learning about the local bandicoot project in the area.
Throughout the year, YEC members each complete a sustainability project in their school or community. During the bus ride, members interviewed each other to find out about the projects other members are working on, and then discussed these as a group enabling them to celebrate their current progress and troubleshoot any challenges they’ve encountered so far.
This year, YEC members in the Central Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges region, identified flora, fauna and local Landcare activities as areas of particular interest. In response to this, the NRM Education team organised a one-day event on Wednesday 4 September, for members to meet with local land care groups and learn about their work. The event was attended by nine students from nine different schools, who travelled by minibus to visit various locations in Upper Sturt and Belair where the Landcare groups are based.
In the morning, the YEC members met Rick and Albert from the Friends of Sturt Gorge at the Renwick Street riparian restoration site. Rick and Albert led a tour of the area explaining their work and showcasing the weeding and revegetation they have undertaken over the last eleven years; including the removal of olives and boneseed on the slopes surrounding the creek. The students enjoyed the hands-on activity of helping to cut back the olives, a demonstration of how the olive trees can be killed with the drill-and-fill method, and the opportunity to see the interactive map the volunteers use to track the areas they have worked on, and to record their wildlife sightings.
Following lunch at the Belair National Park Volunteer Centre, the YEC members met volunteers from the Sturt Upper Reaches Landcare Group to learn about their activities. Students visited various areas the group have been caring for, learnt about the work of the younger Bush Buddies group and about local native and pest plant species. They were also shown useful local flora and fauna resources they can explore further. Students enjoyed learning to identify local plant species, doing some hand weeding and, although there were no sightings, learning about the local bandicoot project in the area.
Throughout the year, YEC members each complete a sustainability project in their school or community. During the bus ride, members interviewed each other to find out about the projects other members are working on, and then discussed these as a group enabling them to celebrate their current progress and troubleshoot any challenges they’ve encountered so far.
For those students who couldn’t make it on the bus tour, we provided an opportunity to visit Sturt Gorge on Sunday 8 September with their families. Three students, their dads and siblings joined Amy and Liz from the Friends of Sturt Gorge. After some practice identifying some common woody and herbaceous weeds that the Friends are controlling, the group toured the creek restoration site and compared the ‘before’ photos taken of the valley floor and the hillsides as they are currently after treatment. Everyone then enthusiastically worked on a patch of boneseed, before enjoying some fruit and hearing about some European and geological history of the area from Liz. The afternoon concluded with a visit to the flood mitigation dam and an area of remnant and regrowth grey box grassy woodland.
The students enjoyed the opportunity to connect with local Landcare groups and are looking forward to showcasing their projects and celebrating their sustainability achievements with family, teachers, other students and invited guests, at the Sharing Forum in November.
