Resilient students connect with nature at home

MANY students forge a connection to nature when they are outdoors in the natural environment using their senses.
Local not-for-profit organisation Bellarine Catchment Network (BCN) launched a new education program in early April focused around fostering environmental stewardship for Year 4-6’s through outdoor activities and excursions.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the delivery of the Coastcare Mentorship Program was quickly adapted from face-to-face to remote learning to ensure a continuation of the program. Over the past three months, 17 students from Bellarine and Geelong schools have been self-delivering nature-based activities with guidance and support from Bellarine Catchment Network. So far, these activities have been focused around Ramsar wetlands and have included activities like birdwatching, creating posters for World Migratory Bird Day and learning about Ramsar wetland flora and fauna.
One of the Coastcarers is Lilly, who is enjoying the program so far.
“My favourite part of the program so far has been the bird watching activity, there are so many birds near where I live, it’s great learning more about them,” the nine-year-old said.
“I am looking forward to learning more about biodiversity and caring for the coast and marine life.”
BCN set up a Coastcare Mentorship Program page on the Landcarer website to allow parents, teachers and students to access relevant documents, resources and instructional videos at their leisure and the opportunity to connect and share information with others involved in the program.
Kellie Clark, Lilly’s mother, said the Coastcarer Mentorship Program had been great for her daughter to engage with nature during the time of social isolation.
“While we were unable to travel, we used our regular exercise walks around our local lake to investigate and discuss the wildlife habitats and bird life that exist in our local area. It was great news that this program was still able to be delivered at this time.
“A huge amount of credit goes to BCN staff for their hard work in quickly adapting and developing the online learning material and format.”
The Coastcare Mentorship Program is being funded by the federal government’s communities environment program. Information can be found at environmentbellarine.org.au or by emailing [email protected]
The Bellarine Catchment Network comprises representatives from key catchment and coastal organisations (both government and non-government) with an integrated catchment management focus. This includes environment groups, ‘friends of’, land managers, Landcare and Coastcare. BCN supports community organisation and diverse community participation in order to conserve and rehabilitate our local coastal ecosystems.