On Tuesday September 9 Saltbush Balnarring beach welcomed students from Clonard College for an empowering day of ecological revegetation volunteering. The land originally belonging to the Presentation Sisters has been gifted to Saltbush who are collaborating with the Merricks Coolart Catchment Landcare Group (MCCLG) to create a biolink.

The session commenced with a briefing at the Nano Centre about the day and introduced staff and volunteers from Saltbush and MCCLG.  MCCLG volunteers, Peter, Jackie and Tim taught the students the practical skills of planting and explained the bigger vision of how this new forest will provide habitat and form an important part of the Balnarring to the Bay biolink. The biolink connects fragmented areas of remnant vegetation including the endangered swamp paperbark vegetation community, increasing habitat for native fauna and providing a safe corridor for the local koala population.

During the session, students added over 200 meshed and guarded locally native trees and shrubs to the area. Over the next few years these plants will form part of the 44 hectares within the environmentally significant Western Port Biosphere. 

Craig Canning
Mission and Identity Team: Sustainability Leader