Greening Australia – Excursions to Mt Lofty, Warrandyte State Park
On Friday 6th September the Green Team went on an excursion organised by Greening Australia to Mt Lofty in Warrandyte State Park. There were also students from Brunswick Secondary College.
We were welcomed to country with a smoking ceremony by Uncle Bill, who sang and used clapping sticks while we walked through the smoke. It was a powerful and moving experience.
Our group was then split into either the revegetation activity or the indigenous cultural activity. Jim Robinson took the revegetation group. He has been a volunteer with Greening Australia for twenty years and he spoke to us about the importance of putting indigenous species back into the environment and helping to provide habitat for Warrandyte fauna. We were then split into groups of two and we had to dig a hole and plant one of 18 species of plants. On the day we helped to plant 2 000 trees.
Uncle Bill spoke about indigenous culture and showed us a possum skin that every baby is wrapped in when they are born, a possum skin football that families kicked around to stay fit and digging sticks which were used to dig up food. We then went to the top of a hill where we threw boomerangs and painted our skin with ochre. He also told us the dreaming story about the kangaroo and showed us how to use a bull roarer.
Later in the afternoon we collected insects from the ground and the trees and looked at bugs in some water that Jim Mead collected from the Yarra River for us. We had to try and identify the creatures and then sketch them.
One student was heard to say, “I wish we could do this every Friday.”
Butterfly Garden
The Green Team did an amazing job on Monday the 12 May with planting out the Butterfly Garden. Previously the garden had a lot of agapanthus (a weed) which were removed. The parents, at the working bee, dug over the area in preparation for planting. The grade 4, 5 & 6’s helped the preps to grade 3’s in planting some of the fifty free indigenous plants that we received from Manningham Council. They also supplied stakes and tree guards to protect the plants as they grow. The plants are all butterfly attracting so we hope to see lots of butterflies in the future. Signs have been placed near the plants explaining their features.
Lizard Lounge
The Green team completed the Lizard Lounge today. This area was identified through our biodiversity audit as an area that needed work. There were weeds, no rocks or logs for insects or lizards to hide under and the soil was compacted. At the working bee the area was weeded and mulched and rocks added. The green team placed some logs, a water container and native grass to the area. This will provide a suitable habitat for insects and ‘the lizards will come’. This will provide an increase in the biodiversity of this area.
Before the Lizard Lounge there was weeds and dirt.
We removed the weeds, brought in some logs and rocks
The area is still roped off to discourage students from running through until it fully established.
