Mega proud of the students and teachers at Tallong Public School maintaining the rage to protect our endangered species

Last year their efforts to protect the Tallong Midge Orchid saw them win Grand Champion Kreative Koala.

 Simon Tedder from the Office of Environment and Heritage was so impressed with the students dedication he offered to help them set up a native garden in their school grounds. This has led to the students deciding their native garden would provide a habitat for glossy black cockatoos. 

 Tallong Public students planted about 80 Allocasuarina littoralis trees at their school in April 2019.

Each student at Tallong Public school added more glossy black-cockatoo foraging habitat to the landscape by planting Allocasuarina feed trees in their school grounds. With great enthusiasm from Tallong school staff and the new principal, Scott Osborne, the Glossies in the Mist team were welcomed onto the school to share fun facts about glossy ecology and plant trees during short workshops with the students.

The students and Glossies in the Mist team installed the feed trees in an eroding embankment which will stabilise the area and create a nice wind break to the students playing fields. At one point, the team heard the distinctive flight calls of a glossy black-cockatoo and looked up with the students to observe a pair, flying directly over us – the students were captivated!

The Glossy Black-cockatoo is a charismatic, beautiful bird. It is also vulnerable to extinction.

So proud of these wonderful Australians – sending  a big congratulations to the students and staff at Tallong Public School and their Glossies in the Mist support team for contributing to this new foraging habitat and taking on the role as glossy black-cockatoo custodians in their local area. Source 

The Power of the Koala to create the Ripple Effect

This story not only shows what can happen when you bring schoools, students and teachers together with community experts, it show the power of passionate people

As you will see from the students responses in this video Simon Tedder had a phenomonal effect on the students when he visited (they even named their Koala after him) as their Kreative Koalas Community Champion in 2018. As did his colleague Lorraine Oliver on the students at Braidwood Central School. Simon and Lorraine are part of an incredible team of passionate people at the NSW Department of Environment who wake up every day 100% committed to engaging farmers and the community to work together to protect our endangered species.

Special shoutout to them this week as we celebrate people we perceive to be heroes by their courageous actions that go above and beyond