Hi Landcarers

It was fantastic to be able to share Eco Day with over 70 Stage 3 students from Parkes and Forbes Shire schools on Thursday.

Through Eco Day, Central West Lachlan Landcare (CWLL) provide workshops and bus travel to school representatives from Stage 3 (years 5 and 6) from Parkes and Forbes Shire, to enable students to be involved in a variety of environmental and rural related activities.

To provide as much ‘hands on’ and close interaction as possible, small groups are given the opportunity to be involved in educational activities, with an environmental twist, that they will remember for a lifetime.

We were pleased to have our Local State Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Friend of Landcare, Mr Philip Donato joining us and participating in activities with the children. It was also a pleasure to have Cr Bill Jayet from Parkes Shire Council and Cr Jeff Nicholson from Forbes Shire Council joining us.

Student representatives attended workshops which included: making NetWaste Worm Farms; soils with Local Land Services; Parkes Shire Council weeds demonstration and talk; recycled water with Parkes Shire and mascot, Banjo; Eco Art with Ro Burns; and a saleyards tour with Cooper Byrnes from Langlands Hanlon.

The day finished up with a ‘hands on’ workshops from Paul Kirk (AKA The Snake Man) and an interactive workshop with Chris Dart from Netwaste, giving students a chance to understand how they can reduce the waste that we are contributing to landfill.

Paul Kirk allows the kids an opportunity to get up close with the reptiles. He talked to the kids about snake safety and how to handle non-venomous snakes. The kids also learn what to do if they are bitten and then the students had a chance to get up close and personal with some friendly pythons.

“We want the kids to go away thinking about what they can do in their own homes and schools that can make a difference and prevent needless wastage. We hope that students leave the day with a wider perspective of the connection between humans and the environment that we live in”. said Margot Jolly, CWLL Chairperson.

Ro Burns had a different twist on art with an Eco Art Workshop encouraging children to use plants to dye or print on fabrics and paper. The fabric will become part of a community art installation by Ro Burns for the River Arts Festival in May 2019, with schools wind sock fish displaying fish species. The display will appear as a work in progress at Grazing Down the Lachlan.

CWLL Co-ordinator, Marg Applebee said “Eco Day is not possible without contributions from many people, who give up their time to present the workshops mentioned and the day would not be possible without the support from Parkes and Forbes Shire Councils, and the fabulous school children that attend the day.

We are particularly grateful to the staff at the Central West Livestock Exchange, who particularly went out of their way this year, given the wet weather.

For Eco Day photos, go to our facebook page at cwllandcare.

For more information on this article, contact Marg Applebee on 02 6862 4914 or email cwllpo@hotmail.com