By Jamie Salter
Pakenham Secondary College students are playing their part in preserving the natural environment along with their local Landcare groups.
Year 7 and 8 Pakenham Applied Curriculum Team (PACT) students, Year 10 VCAL students and Year 11 Environmental Science students combined their efforts to plant 600 trees, along with Cannibal Creek Landcare Group, Back Creek Landcare Group, Bunyip Landcare Group, Westernport Swamp Landcare Group and Toomuc Creek Landcare Groups.
An array of native trees including tea trees wattle, hakea and eucaypt and were planted at the property of a former dairy farm in Pakenham South.
Pakenham Secondary College teacher Allison Barrie said 500 trees were planted within the first hour.
“Over the last couple of years we’ve done a couple of plantings with the Cannibal Creek Landcare Group, we planted on properties further towards Garfield that were impacted by the bushfires to reestablish native vegetation and wildlife corridors,” she said.
“We got a call from the landowner saying she had heard we might have some students that could help her plant some trees so we called the CCLG”
Cannibal Creek Landcare Group president Gerard Cunningham said the planting day ran smoothly.
“At the start we were a bit all over the place but once we got ourselves organised, away we went!
“The students got right into it and it was a beautiful day.”
Property owner of the former dairy farm Gerry Jane said the students enjoyed the chance to spend the day outside.
“We decided to have one recreational area where we could go to meander through the trees but I’ve had a bit of bad health and can’t do it myself,” she said.
“It was such a blessing to have the trees planted.
“I ordered these trees about 18 months ago and Landcare members had been kind enough to look after them for me until I could organise to get them planted”
She thanked Pakenham Secondary College and Landcare for their support.
