Students from four regional schools came together to celebrate a year of coastal conservation achievements at an environmental forum held in Torquay last week.
The educational event formed part of the Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC) Coast Guardians Program and included environmental activities, guest speakers and student presentations.
Geelong Lutheran College Middle School Co-Ordinator Georgia Quirk said the forum highlighted the importance and impact of the students’ year of environmental work.
“It was great to see the students come together with the other schools in the program, and realise that what they have done has a larger purpose.
“Together we can achieve a whole lot more and it was wonderful to see our students interacting with others by take part in this community endeavour,” Ms Quirk said.
Participants learnt about indigenous foods, protecting and caring for wildlife, the impact of marine debris on our environment and were encouraged to consider environmental volunteering and future careers in conservation.
GORCC Conservation Officer Georgina Beale said the forum acknowledged the students’ hard work and contribution to maintaining the coastal environment.
“The students have assisted us to protect and enhance the natural environment and supported the incredible work of local environmental volunteer groups,” said Ms. Beale.
The program covered a range of environmental topics integrated with hands-on activities such as weeding, planting and erosion prevention.
Geelong Lutheran College, Northern Bay P-12 College and Lorne-Aireys Inlet P-12 College and Surf Coast Secondary College Students took part in the Coast Guardians Program for 2012.
Each school took ownership of the rehabilitation and conservation of a coastal site with the help of GORCC’s conservation team and supported by local volunteer groups including ANGAIR, Friends of Queens Park and Torquay Coast Action.
Visit or like GORCC on Facebook to see more images of the Coast Guardians End of Year Forum.
What is the Coast Guardian Program?
Students involved ranged from years 7-10 from four schools. The activities the students undertook this year helped to increase awareness of environmental issues and encouraged social responsibility and environmental stewardship and it is hoped that participants will be able to walk along that section of coast in years to come and see the results of their hard work.
The program is additional to GORCC’s general Environmental Education Activities Program and is provided free of charge to the schools involved.
Read more about the program here.
Want to get involved in GORCC’s Environmental Activities Program or volunteering on the coast?
Learn more about it the Environmental Activities Program here.
Visit the volunteer page for further information on volunteering opportunities.
Related blog posts:
 Young conservationists take action |
 Adults delve into environmental education! |
 Young protectors preserve coast |
 Counteracting the Coast Tea-Tree invasion |
Great Ocean Road Coast Committee Blog 