Students from Hay War Memorial High School marked Reconciliation Week on Country this year, visiting Riverina property Gayini Nimmie-Caira to learn about cultural land management and conservation.
Environmental educators from the Petaurus Education Group worked alongside land managers Sam and Jamie Woods to teach the students about the conservation and cultural value of the landscape at Gayini.
As the largest privately owned area permanently protected under a conservation agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, Gayini is often referred to as the Kakadu of the South, in reference to the millions of water birds it supports.
With a focus on Aboriginal cultural connection to country, students learnt about the diversity and role of water bugs, birds and plants in a wetland. They discussed Traditional Ecological Knowledge and made clay seed clay balls to use in revegetation projects, producing over 1000 balls in productive competition with each other.
NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust Chief Executive Officer Dr Erin Giuliani was delighted to attend the day and said it was great to see students learning about wetlands and culture while getting their hands dirty at Gayini.
“It’s been a fantastic opportunity to recognise and honour the relationship Nari Nari Tribal Council has with this land and showcase it to the community’s next generation,” Dr Giuliani said.
Nari Nari Tribal Council’s Jamie Woods said the agreement with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust secured ongoing management of the 55,000-hectare site and helped create opportunities to welcome the local community onto Country.
“Hay War Memorial High School is part of the Riverina community and we know how important it is that kids connect with the land and waters and other features of this area and learn what’s here and how it’s been cared for over tens of thousands of years.
"These wetlands are the kidneys of the Murrumbidgee River, cleansing the water. They are really important to us as the custodians, and our community here in the region." Mr Woods said.
The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust supports landholders across NSW to protect important native vegetation on their land.
The Conservation Champions schools program, aligned to the NSW curriculum, has been developed by the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust’s education team to inspire students to care for the environment and allows the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust agreement-holders to showcase their conservation work.
“Conservation comes so naturally to young people and bringing them onto country and seeing them learn about some of the oldest conservation practices in the world was incredible,” Dr Giuliani said.