Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF

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On my birthday last year the World Wildlife Fund released its 2014 Living Planet Report. The headline was that vertebrate populations around the world have declined by an average of 52% between 1970 and 2010. Happy birthday, Will.

So in my lifetime the number of animals with backbones has declined by more than half.

I have been blessed in my lifetime to have grown up spending most of my time in beautiful places and noticing nature. When I was ten I was given my first set of binoculars. Growing up in Mornington and holidaying on the Bellarine I made lists of birds as I saw them. Many of the birds that I saw when I was ten, no longer live in these places. Most of the robins are gone. Whistlers, flycatchers, honeyeaters. A fragment of wading birds remain. Tadpoles and frogs, caterpillars and butterflies, were all staples of growing up in the 1970’s. Not any more. I feel the loss.

Our consumption is trashing a natural world infinitely more fascinating and intricate than the stuff we produce.

This is a moment at which anyone with the capacity for reflection should stop and wonder what we are doing.

If the news that in the past 40 years the world has lost over 50% of its vertebrate wildlife (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish) fails to tell us that there is something wrong with the way we live, it’s hard to imagine what could. Who believes that a social and economic system which has this effect is a healthy one? Who, contemplating this loss, could call it progress?

Is this not the point at which we shout stop? At which we use the extraordinary learning and expertise we have developed to change the way we organise ourselves, to contest and reverse the trends that have governed our relationship with the living planet for the past 2m years, and that are now destroying its remaining features at astonishing speed?

Is this not the point at which we challenge the inevitability of endless growth on a finite planet? If not now, when?

George Monbiot

sth gippsland

When I was ten, there was a nature table in my classroom. When I was ten, young people spent more than 3 times the hours in the outdoors. Today we are a people disconnected from our roots and blithely unaware of our massive impact on life on earth. We need to act.

Schools have a vital role to play and we have lost our way in striving to connect young people with the natural world – that which ultimately sustains us all.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE FAIRY-WRENS First they returned – now they breed successfully in our school garden

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The superb fairy-wren is back breeding at our school after having been absent for decades. By assisting with the establishment of a diverse indigenous garden, every Year 4 student since 2008 – nearly 350 young people – can each claim partial responsibility for the return of this beautiful little bird.

In May 2013, the ever-alert Annabelle, won herself the distinction of being the first person in decades to sight the bird here at school. This wren is common down in the Barwon valley where there is ample groundcover, but had disappeared from our landscape due to a lack of habitat.

Since Anabelle’s sighting the wrens were an ephemeral presence in our garden, but last summer one pair nested – three times – to successfully raise four young birds. The wrens now bring new life, new joy, new sounds and new colours to our garden.

The project began in winter 2008, when several large, old and dying cypress trees were removed. In the following spring, the Year 4 students (now in Year 11) planted 70 Kangaroo apples (solanum aviculare) to act as pioneer plants on the barren site. This was the first stage of the project entitled, “Can we entice the superb fairy-wren back to the Geelong College property?” During the long drought, many plants struggled to establish themselves, but the good rains of 2011 and 2012 contributed to strong plant growth. Local indigenous plant guru John King (owner of Geelong Indigenous Nurseries) has been a generous supporter of the project, arriving each year with another collection of indigenous plants sourced from seed collected from within 15km of our property.

The area now features a diversity of plants and a host of seasonal insects and bugs, including hoverflies, butterflies, moths and bees. The soil is richer and is also host to a diverse array of life. Larger birds including the crimson rosella, white cockatoo, common bronzewing, crested pigeon, little raven, new holland honeyeater, red wattlebird, and pied currawong have been recorded on the site. However until Annabelle’s sighting of the first blue wrens, none of the smaller ‘bush’ birds (wrens, finches, thornbills, fantails and scrub wrens) had been recorded. The arrival of any ‘new’ species will occur only when the habitat is right.

The superb fairy-wren is often one of the first birds to colonise newly re-vegetated land. They require:

  • protection from predators – thickets of shrubs, with prickly branches or leaves can provide the perfect place to retreat from danger
  • safe nesting sites – they like to build a nest around 1.2 metres above the ground. The nesting site will be found among tightly packed shrubs.
  • a diversity of insects
  • open areas of lawn or leaf litter, where insects live and breed, providing a ready food supply to fairy-wrens

The wrens can be seen and heard every day hopping around in the orchard, the chook pen, the food garden beds, the Enviro classroom deck and even in some newly constructed cubbies.

In early discussions about the likely success of the project, 10 year old Suzie (now in Year 11) said, “But it’s much better to try than not to try. Not trying makes no sense.” Her words have echoed through the years and have provided much of the inspiration needed to keep persevering.

This year we received a visit from Andrew Katsis a wren researcher from Melbourne University. He provided us all with further insights into the complex social world of our wren. As he predicted we have now seen the young females depart (they are thrown out of the family group after one year) and one young male choose to leave (he was just gaining his first flush of blue plumage before he left). This leaves us with the original breeding pair who are now sneaking around furtively most likely nest-building again.

Given the speed at which suitable habitat for native wildlife is disappearing from our modern suburban gardens, this has been an important project. More and more children are growing up with less nature in their backyards and significantly less contact with nature in their lives.

This project continues to help young people (and older ones too) connect in a meaningful way to their local natural world and also learn that there are simple ways that each of us can make a contribution to our local places. Making a difference simply requires a little knowledge, a few years and a dose of perseverance.

The WWF reported last year that in 1970 we shared our planet with twice as many vertebrates as we do today. This bleak fact demands action from educators. Every school should work hard to actively engage young people with their natural world. Many schools are getting into it.

Is there a school near you that boasts a re-vegetation project, or creates habitat for birds, lizards or insects? If there isn’t, there will be. Soon.

THE YEAR 4 ‘ENVIRO’ PROGRAM AT THE GEELONG COLLEGE (AUSTRALIA)

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The ‘Enviro’ year is a unique program. The rich context of the immediate environment, including the Barwon River and a beautiful and productive food garden, provides endless opportunities to engage in meaningful learning in all areas of the curriculum.

There is a wide body of environmental education research confirming that through our increasingly urbanised lives we have lost our connection with the natural places that ultimately sustain us.  Our program allows young people the opportunity to connect with the natural world – something that has largely vanished from school curricula in recent decades.

Tactile outdoor experience develops empathy and builds respect for the magnificent natural diversity of life on earth. Working in, and cooking and eating from the garden allows children to learn important life lessons about sustainability, good food and good health.

The overarching question, “How can we create a good tomorrow?” guides us throughout the year and helps us think clearly about so many things from personal growth and interpersonal relationships to living sustainably and caring for the planet.

Year-long guiding question:  HOW CAN WE CREATE A GOOD TOMORROW?

Term 1: How can we grow a productive food garden?

Term 2: How are the living things around us connected?

Term 3: How has our landscape changed over time?

Term 4: How do we use the earth’s resources?

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The Pillars of the Enviro Year

 

Learning to Know

Nature  The Enviro program aims to build a deep understanding and love for nature by tapping into young people’s inherent curiosity and love of animals and other living things. They are encouraged to notice, and then to ‘know’ their local natural world and their place within it.

Academic rigour  The wonders of nature and the challenges of sustainability provide an incredibly rich context for purposeful learning. An integrated and inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning allows students to explore, gather, process, refine and present information about topics without the constraints imposed by traditional subject barriers. Links between areas of the curriculum are made only when they are natural and when they are related to the understandings on which the unit is focussed. The links are not contrived or forced. Activities offer the possibility for learners to further develop their ideas about the fields of knowledge being studied.

 

Learning To Do

Sustainability  The Year 4 program is a key feature of the school’s commitment to sustainability. Our young people open their eyes to their own impact on the environment and investigate ways in which we can live more sustainably and act upon these. As a community we endeavour to model sustainability and improve our own practises.

 

Environmental action and good health

The notion of ‘acting for the environment’ is central to the program. Students are often engaged in improving the Enviro precinct by creating new features or spaces. During the year our students connect with a diverse range of outdoor places: the Barwon River; the school food garden; farms; parks and gardens and animal sanctuaries. They participate in activities such as: gardening; growing, cooking, serving and eating food; tending to animals; ponding; observing plant structures and growth; investigating invertebrates; hands-on scientific experiments; and nature observation.

 

Learning to Live with Others

Transition  The Year 4 experience represents a ‘right of passage’ in the journey for The Geelong College students. The year provides a careful transition to life in the Middle school. The Enviro precinct is set away from the main part of the Middle School and provides a secure setting for students as they come to know their new places, people and routines.

Respect  A key component of the program is nurturing respect. Respect for: ourselves; others; our communities; our places; and all life on earth.

Working together  Year 4 students regularly work together in teams where they are required to listen to others, compromise, negotiate and share responsibility.

Learning to Be

Positive outlook  Our role as educators is to involve children in a range of learning experiences that lead them to discover ways in which they can ‘make a difference.’ The Enviro program teachers are committed to equipping young children with an optimistic ‘can do’ mentality.