The College hosted a tree planting day on Saturday 9 September 2017 at Royal Park. We were thrilled to have over one hundred students from Foundation Studies and the Residential College join us on what turned out to be a beautiful spring morning.
At the park, just a short walk from the Royal Parade campus, we were greeted by the park rangers and members of the Friends of Royal Park Group. They gave us all a lesson in planting and explained the importance of maintaining the park’s biodiversity. Under their supervision, the students planted a variety of trees across a large section of the park. Hopefully, students will be able to return and see the results soon.
There was a lovely atmosphere with many excellent questions about the planting process and other projects being put to the Friends of Royal Park Group members who were also impressed by the prior knowledge of some students. It gave many of us a renewed appreciation for the hard work done by these conservation groups across Melbourne. With the trees safely in the ground, students headed back to Royal Parade for a barbecue to celebrate the morning’s success.
Our annual planting day wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing support of the rangers at Royal Park. We are also very grateful for all the staff who came to help on the day. In particular, we would like to thank Jane Sykes for organising this opportunity for students and leading the event. It’s a fun, hands on way to engage in conservation whilst meeting new people.
