Geelong Cats star Georgie Prespakis and Barwon Water are helping students from more than 10 schools plant thousands of native grasses and shrubs as part of its Schools Tree Day program.
Students at 12 local schools have signed up for the program, with more than 2500 plants expected to be planted July through September.
As part of Barwon Water’s program this year, Prespakis joined students from Clonard College on Schools Tree Day on Friday to plant native grasses, shrubs and trees at Kevin Kirby Reserve Herne Hill.
This is the second year Clonard College has conducted tree planting at the local reserve, with students improving biodiversity by adding more than 500 plants to the established gardens.
Prespakis said it was great to lend a hand on the day as part of the program.
“At the Cats, we are always looking at ways we can make a positive difference and it was a pleasure to join Barwon Water and students at Clonard College to start the planting and be part of the program,” she said.
Other schools participating in this year’s Schools Tree Day include Grovedale College, Herne Hill Primary School, Northern Bay College and Winchelsea Primary School.
Barwon Water education advisor Fernando Garcia said that to celebrate Schools Tree Day, each year Barwon Water provides interested schools in the Barwon region with a selection of native and indigenous plants to assist in revegetating existing garden beds or establish a new native garden.
“Planting native and indigenous plants improves biodiversity, provides food and shelter for native animals and improves the students’ learning environment,” he said.
Visit the National Tree Day website treeday.planetark.org for more information.
