JUNIOR LANDCARE PROJECT

At the beginning of 1995, KBULG began a program of Junior Landcare. An introductory letter and Registration Pamphlet was produced and distributed to all primary schools in and around Kalgoorlie-Boulder, inviting individual classes to join up.

15 classes joined the program in 1995, 27 in 1996, 55 in 1997, 55 in 1998 and 56 in 1999. Now all schools in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, including the two high schools, are involved in our Schools Landcare Program.

The Junior Landcare Groups are affiliated with KBULG, which provides a Junior Landcare Package to all registered classes. The package includes:

• Classroom Landcare Activity Sheets
• Environmental Education Resources
• Suggested Times for Landcare Activities such as Tree Planting & Seed Collecting
• Out of School Activities
• Pre & post excursion activities
• Several pamphlets.

KBULG conducts a bus tour at the beginning of the Year to introduce teachers to the program. Then all classes which are enrolled in the program are visited and presented with their membership certificate, some useful resources and a landcare sticker. KBULG produces a Junior Landcare Newsletter (see Pamphlet) at the beginning of each term highlighting events & activities. Each school has its own Landcare Co-ordinator who feeds information from KBULG to other teachers/classes in their school.

Children in the program participate in a number of landcare activities including: guided walks in Karlkurla Bushland Park, tree planting, Schools' Tidy Days, wildflower walks in spring, flora identification, fauna trapping, visits to the Arboretum & Native Plants Demonstration Garden and developed their own local plants garden in their school grounds.

KBULG has initiated a newspaper recycling program at several schools. Other items such as aluminium cans are also recycled by some schools.

KBULG also conducts an annual Junior Landcare Drawing Competition for Goldfields Environment Month (see Pamphlet). Students are asked to 'Draw the Bush around their home or school and include things that harm the bushland such as weeds, trail bikes, littering, feral animals, rubbish dumping etc.' In 2001 there were about 300 entries in the competition. The winners received a framed picture of their drawing and a certificate, presented by the Premier of Western Australia on World Environment Day.

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