Members of the Cabarita Beach/Bogangar community came together this week to launch an environmental display and prepare for the annual National Tree Day celebrations.
The display is at the Kartel Expresso Bar in Bogangar for the next few weeks and features a painting by a local artist as well as pictures and information about local native plants, Cabarita Beach Dunecare and their annual tree planting program with the children of Bogangar Public School.
“Local artist Mindy Clarke [mindygirl] presented an art piece to Cabarita Beach Dunecare,” Dunecare Co-ordinator Ashley Baldry said.
“The artwork is about coastal erosion, the fragile habitat of the Tweed Coast and the importance of speaking up about environmental issues.”
Ashley said the event was the official launch of this year’s program for National Tree Day, on Friday, July 29.
He said the Cabarita Beach Dunecare and Bogangar Public School will again join forces for the day and will plant more than 600 native trees in the dunal area south of Norries Headland.
This is the fourth successive year the two organisations have worked together and the event is now something of a ritual.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for local children to make a contribution to Caba’s natural environment and have lots of fun at the same time,” he said.
“We have several groups of about 60 children turn up to the site during the course of the morning and we usually start with a demonstration on how to plant a tree.
“I don’t know if we’ll need to do that this year because last year we would only get half-way through and the kids would roll their eyes and say ‘yeah…we know how to do that…we did it last year!’.
“And this year, with generous sponsorship from the Cabarita Beach Sports Club, the program has been expanded to include educational workshops at the school in the week leading up to the tree planting day and interpretive signs that will help to educate and inform visitors and locals alike.
“Cabarita Beach Dunecare is a volunteer group of local residents who help to manage vegetation along the coastal strip by removing weeds and exotic species and replanting local native species.” Dunecare is a sub-committee of the Cabarita Beach/Bogangar Residents’ Association and affiliated with Coastcare.
The group is actively supported by Tweed Shire Council, Bogangar Public School and Cabarita Beach Sports Club.
Renae Wagland, owner of the Kartel Expresso Bar, said she always had a display by a local artist in the shop – changing it every week.
“I knew national plant a tree day was coming up and I thought I’d do something different and give something back to the community,” she said.
