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In 2004, Wonga Beach State School embarked on our first major environmental project. After conducting stream health surveys in our local area it was decided that we would revegetate a degraded wetland behind the school grounds. The owner of the land kindly allowed us to use his land which was overrun with weeds and unused by Wonga Beach Horse Rides the leasee.
The area before clearing began
This project promised to be a long term one that had the potential to involve the entire school and many community members. Each year level would be responsible for a different avenue of the development. Initially the wetlands had to be designed. This was a project that was undertaken by the grade 5/6 class at the time. They created three dimensional models and drew scale maps to show their intended plans for this area and how it could be intergrated into the school grounds through further plantings.
Models and maps completed by students
Once the design had been decided on the hard work had to begin. The lagoon was cleared using an excavator and then replanted. As you may well imagine, it was a mammoth task and still requires a lot of maintenance 4 years later.
Wetland area being cleared
As a part of the design, we included a protected nesting island in the lagoon as well as snags, weed beds,protected inlets,silt traps, shallows and deeper areas. The lagoon ended up being smaller than planned due to the difficulties with a mass of old logs encountered during excavation.
Island lagoon after excavation and 1 year on.
There were several established trees already in the area, and we set about planting thousands more to shade out the grasses and provide food and shelter. We planted trees that were native to the area and many were host trees for particular species of birds and butterflies to help attract them to the area. The students then built nesting boxes and we attached them to the trees to provide shelter for small mammals and birds. We also designed and built a nesting pole for ospreys that breed around the school. The lack of large trees capable of supporting their uge nests means many of these birds nest on power poles or transmission towers. Ergon helped us by supplying and erecting the pole.
Osprey Pole and Mammal Box
The Wetlands project has provided many quality educational experiences that link to many of our Key Learning Areas. Students have been involved in testing water quality and designing and building silt traps. They have been involved in the Weeder Busters project and have participated in the planting of over six thousand trees since the project began. Students have also had the opportunity to liaise with many community members and people who are experts in their field.
This is an ongoing venture, one which has enhanced the natural beauty of the area and improvedthe quality of water entering the Great Barrier Reef Lagoon.
The increase in wildlife living in the area has been confirmed by the bird surveys that have been undertaken weekly since the onset of the project. The entire school has been involved in this wonderful project and we have had no incidents of vandalism involving our students.
This successful and challenging project made us examine the way our school impacts on the environmet and led to the development of what became the Wonga beach Sustainable School Project.. An project that we hope will continue to grow for many years to come.
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