By JO HARRISON
STUDENTS from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School participated in a tree planting and maintenance session at Black Gully in Armidale on Friday for schools Tree Day.
Students were assisted by members of the Armidale Tree Group and were given practical demonstrations in planting seedlings and the Smart Tree Project which collects data on how trees interact with their environment.
Volunteer Sarah Schmude said that there have been several sites across Armidale that have had significant tree planting with the help of students on Schools Tree Day.
“Schools Tree Day is not just about planting trees it is about understanding their habitat, the importance of that habitat and doing some maintenance to help those trees along,” Sarah said.
“School groups are great to work with and are easy to engage. When you personalise the environment the kids connect really easily with it.
“They are little sponges; you ask them a question about a tree and they will give you so many lateral answers.”
National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day combine to make Australia’s biggest community tree-planting event National Tree Day was held on Sunday 28 July, while Schools Tree Day was held on Friday 26 July.
