Hi Landcarer’s

Central West Lachlan Landcare have once again celebrated Eco Day with schools from Forbes Shire, Parkes Shire, Condobolin and Eugowra.

Nearly 400 Year 5 students came together on Friday, 24 March to learn more about the environment, land use and how they can make a difference as they grow and contribute in our communities.

Our day was opened by the Dgayang Boys who performed and welcomed students to Eco Day.

A big thanks to Parkes Racecourse for use of their facility on the day. The weather was amazing, with a fresh start and a warm day.

We were thrilled to once again have the support of FishCare (DPI); Parkes Shire Council Environmental staff; CMOC NorthParkes Mine staff; Grazing Down The Lachlan, Parkes Community Arts, Petaurus Education and the Biodiversity Conservation Trust. We were also fortunate to have the support of many volunteers. Without them days like this would not be possible.

We welcomed back Jacqui with her Travelbug insects and Larry Brandy, both of whom also joined us at Homegrown Parkes on the next day.

Children will come away from the day having learnt about native and introduced species of fish and their habitats, water treatment processes, waterbugs and macroinvertebrates, biodiversity and habitats, mining and land management.

Of course, this year we welcomed celebrity gardener, Costa Georgiadis, who took the opportunity to be involved in workshops and engage with students, bringing everyone together at the end of the day.

Costa brings an extra level of enthusiasm to Eco Day and it was great to have him back to our area again.

Central West Lachlan Landcare were proud to once again host a group of fabulous young people from our local schools and our volunteers and presenters come away from days like this being inspired by the students that we are teaching and encouraged that we have intelligent, enthusiastic young people who can go back to their school communities and educate others.

Schools Eco Day is an annual undertaking by Central West Lachlan Landcare and we have already commenced planning for 2024!

We thank the schools that are involved and hope that we will be able to make more opportunities like this available to more students.

A big thanks to Bill Jayet for being our official photographer on the day.

We appreciate the support of CMOC NorthParkes Mines through their Community Investment Program providing transport for Parkes and Forbes students to and from Eco Day.

For further information on this article, please go to www.centralwestlachlanlandcare.org, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram @cwllandcare