STUDENTS from St Macartan’s Parish Primary School, Mornington were running, skipping and dancing for peace and the planet as part of the global eco relay, Run4Unity on Friday 5 May.
The global relay aims to unite people in peace for the planet. For every kilometre the students completed they will propagate one indigenous plant for a local Landcare revegetation project.
As part of their studies, students are learning that land restoration heals the land and helps to support and sustain ecological biodiversity and health.
St Macartans had partnered with Merricks Coolart Landcare and Friends of Blairgowrie National Park for the relay.
Merricks Coolart Landcare is one of 12 Landcare volunteer organisations on the peninsula. With more than 80 per cent of the peninsula cleared for farming and development there is a growing need to ensure that remnant vegetation is retained.
Plants propagated by the students will go to the Balnarring Biolink project, which is also part of Linking the Mornington Peninsula Landscape, a five-year project of the Mornington Peninsula Landcare Network.
Biolinks are areas of bush and other habitat that provide corridors for wildlife to move freely and safely and have access to a broader landscape.
To make a further positive impact, students will use seeds from the school site to propagate indigenous stock for the Friends of Blairgowrie Mornington Peninsula National Park.
Along with Merricks Coolart Landcare, St Macartans invite community members to be a part of the planting morning, 9am to 11am Saturday 17 June at the biolink near the Balnarring skate park.
First published in the Mornington News – 9 May 2023