College Row Bushland Regeneration Project
College Row, in collaboration with the Leschenault Catchment Council, were granted funding for a project to regenerate the bushland adjacent to the College Row School in South Bunbury.
The project aims to improve the local environment by encouraging regeneration of native species and repairing some of the degradation the site has experienced over time. This is a fantastic school project with multiple benefits, including improving the surrounding bushland and fostering habitat for local fauna, as well as providing a platform for interactive student learning; plus, areas of the site are public open spaces designed to be enjoyed by the community. Thanks to funding through the City of Bunbury’s Habitat Bunbury program, we have already had great success with revegetation of two zones, covering approximately 700 square metres of bushland.
We have held a sensory day at College Row in September 2020, where students were provided with an interpretive flora and fauna lesson. They were engaged in physical and auditory stimulation activities, including holding and looking at plant parts, listening to bird calls and making artificial frog spawn!
The project also facilitated a celebration of culture and diversity with students from the Djidi Djidi Primary School attending a day of cultural exchange at College Row. LCC project officer Johnny Prefumo took students on a walk and talk bushland tour where they were shown the variety of native plant species present in the reserve and provided with a description of frog, reptile, mammal and bird species which also occur in the area.
Students who are part of the College Row Bush Ranger Cadet Program have been heavily involved with working together with kids who have complex communication needs and disabilities, in work such as helping to weed, dig holes, plant, mulch and water.
As part of the project, the LCC held a community planting day in July 2020. Enthusiastic volunteers helped to plant and guard the carefully selected species, provided by the Leschenault Community Nursery. It was noticed by concerned community members that local teenagers who BMX in the area could disturb the planting site. The school was able to clearly map out the area and encouraged the teenagers to continue riding in the bushland adjacent to the revegetation site. The same teenagers also volunteered their time and joined us at the community planting day.
Later in the year we held a Busy bee, where community volunteers helped us to collect rubbish, water the revegetation site, mulch around the area and pull weeds. We are very grateful to the many members of community who have offered help and support throughout the duration of this project.
We are very keen to carry on this project for multiple years. We hope to secure funding for future works at the site to continue the great work that we’ve already achieved. We would like to infill and expand the planting area to cover more of the site; continue weed management, planting and mulching; address some dieback concerns; and consider disabled access paths, interpretive signage, and installation of nesting boxes for wildlife including bats, birds and the critically endangered western ringtail possum.
