Local school gets its green gloves on

Students from Narrabeen Sports High have been working closely with educators from the Coastal Environment Centre on projects to support local bushland and native animals affected by the bushfires.

The Year 7 and 8 students who are part of the school’s Bush Regeneration group stepped in earlier this year to create mini homes for bushfire-affected wildlife in the Southern Highlands.

The group worked with educators to create eight possum dreys using hanging baskets with coconut fibre lining.

Ringtail possums usually build their dreys by creating a ball of woven twigs within the canopy of a tree and lining it with leaves, while brushtail possums prefer to curl up in a tree hollow.

But given the devastation of the fires on their habitat earlier in the year, access to suitable trees and plants has been dramatically reduced.

The completed dreys have since been located to suitable spots in the Southern Highlands bush.

The students were also tasked with developing plant guards to protect new planting at our local beach dunes.

Using 100% compostable materials, they created guards that decompose over time, while exposed to the elements.

Year 8 student Kade said 'he thought Bushcare Regeneration was fun because you get to cut down the bad stuff like Lantana and replace it with native plants that make the area beautiful'.

Find out more about the Coastal Environment Centre’s educational activities.