Newcastle Students are Conservation Champions

Newcastle High School has been praised by Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp for supporting students to learn about local biodiversity first-hand.

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Year 10 students spent a day on a Mount Vincent conservation area near Cessnock earlier this month where learning how to protect the local environment was the aim of the day.

“We’ve got a big group of young people putting the environment at the centre of their learning in this program,” said Tim Crakanthorp, Member for Newcastle.

The 56 students took part in a NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust school program delivered by Petaurus Education Group.

“They’re coming out here to see it firsthand from landholders who are actively protecting endangered species on their own land, and they’re taking that learning back into their lives.”

The students made the journey to Bow Wow Gorge, a private property boasting an impressive area of endangered rainforest, spotted gum open forests, and riparian forests. The property is permanently protected by a conservation covenant with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust and managed by the owners, who can apply for grants under the Trust’s grant program.

“These are our future leaders and champions for the environment, so it’s only fitting they’d join a program called Conservation Champions,” said Crakanthorp.

The free, school-based program is linked to the NSW School Curriculum and includes a mix of in-class and field-based learning.

Elizabeth Morris, Head Teacher of Human Society and its Environment at Newcastle High School, echoed the sentiment, saying, “We’ve got an incredible group of kids here who’ve spent time in the classroom learning about conservation and the environment, and now they’re out here, putting it into practice.”

After a walk-and-talk around the property, the students learned how landholders use equipment like motion cameras and audio recorders to monitor the animals on their land and discovered how water bugs can indicate the health of a waterway.

“Being able to bring them here so they can learn about conservation in a place as special as this, where the landholders are really dedicated to protecting what they've got, is really special,” says Morris.

To find out if the Conservation Champions program can come to your primary or high school, visit bct.nsw.gov.au/resources/school or phone 1300 992 688.