Science students at Seymour College were becoming increasingly aware of the challenges pollinators face in their area as a result of habitat loss. So, using their 2022 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grant, the school went about setting up their ‘Science Saving our Pollinators’ project – a revegetation initiative focused on attracting pollinators to school grounds.
The project also saw the development of an entomology club that will allow students to research the changes in pollinator numbers and species over time, as the plants in their revegetation site mature.
The Bundoora Scout Group’s ‘Joey Scouts’ Biodiversity Garden’ project was inspired by a local parcel of land – and the opportunity to replicate the indigenous flora found in Bundoora’s Gresswell Forest Nature Reserve, and through the transformation acquire a greater understanding of living together with nature.
The parcel of land was roughly 10 by 30 metres and home to just three huge gums and a few weeds. The Joey Scouts, aged between five and eight years old, got to work adding soil, mulch and planting about 100 indigenous plants, with plans to erect an outside flagpole and nature trail around the newly installed plants to further enhance the area and provide a sustainable play-space.
Our Lady Star of the Sea Primary School in Cowes, Victoria, opened in 2018 with the vision of transforming the school site from a weed ridden paddock to a haven for Phillip Islands’ bush and wetland creatures.
Through a lot of hard work and drawing inspiration from the nearby Ramsar Listed Rhyll Wetlands and Oswin Roberts Reserve, they’ve successfully created bushland and wetland habitat refuges. In addition, thanks to their 2022 Victorian Junior Landcare and Grant, the school has also established a walking trail within school grounds aimed at promoting opportunities for students to care for indigenous plants and animals; mentor lifelong environmental awareness; and to help spread the ‘Victorians value nature’ message to all.
Located on the land of the Boonwurrung people, Mount Eliza Secondary College put their 2022 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grant towards creating real and lasting connections with local First Nations people. They did so through the collaborative building of a native kitchen garden and indigenous garden resting place. Their project also sought to increase the biodiversity of local species in the college gardens by producing pollen and seeds to help keep the increasingly threatened local species gene pool alive.
Albion Primary School’s ‘Bird watching, Nest Box Monitoring and Biodiversity Mural’ project set about growing awareness among students and parents alike about the importance of biodiversity and sustainability.
Building on the school community’s involvement in bird watching and monitoring over the past three years, Albion Primary School put their 2022 Victorian Junior Landcare and Biodiversity Grant towards purchasing each class a set of binoculars to allow even more students to monitor birds in the school’s grounds. All 200 students now have access to binoculars, which they are able to use during their weekly Sustainability classes.
