During the first three weeks of Term 3, Julie’s Class 7 students planted 530 trees. 208 of these were donated by Mullumbimby’s Rainforest 4, to coincide with a visit to Shearwater by an Indonesian delegation dedicated to saving orangutans through education, conservation and plantings in their country. These trees were planted in a sharp bend of the creek beyond the music rooms and Grandfather Fig.
The other 322 trees were planted along the watercourse of our ephemeral wetland that was altered to facilitate the construction of the Kindergarten and Preschool.
Cathy’s Class 7 plantings from just six months ago behind the Kindy have absolutely thrived as a result of the wonderful wet weather that followed the dry hot summer.
These latest plantings behind the Preschool will have a harder time of it as we appear to be heading into another long, hot and probably dry spring and early summer.
As I am retiring after 19 years of environmental restoration at Shearwater, this will be my last Class 7 planting and I congratulate this class on the magnificent effort they put in. There was no shade for this planting, just full sun and some very windy days. Thank you Julie for what you have given these bright young students.
The School received a for $6,600 grant from the Biodiversity Conservation Trust (you’ve seen their Land for Wildlife signs all around the shire) to cover this planting and the next two years of wetland restoration.
With the help of farmer Beau (who probably planted some of the more established trees when he was a student of the School), we have also managed to plant 150 trees along the road verge, beyond the Farm dam, with Classes 8, 9 and 10.
All told, we have planted over 20,000 trees at the School since 2001 - an epic project and one I will miss being a part of. But I am confident Shearwater will continue its environmental restoration well into the future.
Thank you Shearwater, for letting me be the guardian of our forest.
Ken Ohlsson
Coordinator Gardening and Bush Regeneration
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