The devastating impacts of the 2015 Pinery fire have been well-documented, but eight schools have pulled together to demonstrate that from the ashes good things can grow.
The Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resource Management board has used levy funds to provide a vehicle for communities and schools to get involved in the Pinery fire vegetation recovery project.
More than $20,000 was provided to grow and plant more than 18,000 trees and shrubs via the revegetation project this year.
Mallala Primary School was one of the schools involved, along with Freeling, Nuriootpa and Kapunda primary schools, and high schools Craigmore, Nuriootpa and Faith Lutheran College at Tanunda.
Trees for Life growers' kits were supplied to the schools and NRM Education officer Chris Hall said getting schools involved in the program helped engage young people with the recovery process.
“It was a means of taking action after a tragedy and action has a lot of positive effects for student wellbeing,” he said.
"This is a hands-on project that teaches valuable skills of learning about local native plants and how to grow trees successfully.”
NRM Education contacted schools and had an overwhelming response from teachers putting their hands up to get involved.
“Its the first year we have added schools and it has been very successful,” Mr Hall said.
“We will have about 2000 seedlings from the schools to go toward the 18,000 that are being grown by other stakeholders this year,” he said.
Mallala Primary School teacher Mel Barnes was one of the many educators who were eager to get their students to propagate seeds for the project.
“We have a lot of families affected by the Pinery fire, some of the students who were propagating the plants were quite significantly affected and lost their homes,” she said.
“Those families are still rebuilding and this project is something the students see as important to the community, and themselves as a part of this community – so it is all closely linked.”
The seedlings will be distributed to affected landholders and families on the fireground.
Mr Hall says it is the landholders’ choice on where they would like to plant the seedlings on their properties as either shelter belts, buffers or woodlands.
It is expected about 20,000 seedlings will be handed out to Pinery fire-affected families at the Barossa Bushgardens on May 6.
“It will be an expression of latent community goodwill,” Mr Hall said.
Long-term vision assists bushfire affected families
THROUGHOUT the next five years schools and communities will band together to ensure Pinery and the surrounding fireground will be restored to its former landscape.
Natural Resource Management Education officer Chris Hall said once the community had a chance to grieve and basic property restoration was under way, the focus switched to “getting the plants back in the ground”.
This is where the Mallala Primary School has lent its hand, and in November last year students began to propagate plants.
The students have helped to raise 60 seedlings and will prepare the native plants for distribution on May 6.
Mallala Primary School teacher Mel Barnes said students were eager to plant the seeds but had to learn and practice the difficult virtue of patience.
“The children took a bit of time to understand that propagating plants takes time but once they could see sprouting there was a lot of excitement for the project,” she said.
“We have an action team who on a day-to-day basis care for the plants – in particular making sure they are watered because that is something that is a continual learning process.
“The students have learned it is not a case of just pouring water onto a seedling, the skills involved has been phenomenal.”
Twelve-year-old student Casey Pratt lost her family home in the fire and said she has enjoyed the project because it was positive action and would help families feel better about where they lived again.
