Last week (18 March) 23 students from the Year-11 geography class of St. John’s-Kilmarnock School in Breslau, 80 km SW of Toronto, Ontario, Canada planted 252 rainforest trees on private property in the Daintree. This was on Lot 40, Cape Tribulation Rd, Cape Kimberley, as their contribution to Rainforest Rescue’s Plant a Rainforest Project.

Canadian teachers Rocky Menzella and Kim Wakeford, in charge of the group, said the students are on a tour in Australia visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The purpose of the tour is raising the students’ awareness of global environmental and resource management issues.

As they were staying in the Daintree rainforest at the award winning Crocodylus Youth Hostel, Crocodylus management staff, Terry Rogers, suggested they contact the Daintree Cassowary Care Group (DCCG), to learn about local environment work. DCCG is a local community group that grows rainforest seedlings to supply revegetation projects north of the Daintree River.

It was the DCCG who put the group in contact with the Plant a Rainforest Project. Rainforest Rescue is planting 3,000 trees this year on the private property in the Daintree as a joint project with the owners Colton Perna and Kerry Greene and the Queensland Park’s and Wildlife Service’s Nature Assist Project. All trees planted will be protected for ever under covenant, even when the property changes hands. They will form part of a wildlife corridor between moist lowland forest and an upland part of the Daintree National Park. The cost of planting is being sponsored by Adshell, a Melbourne and Sydney-based advertising company.

17 year old student, Melissa Davies said she found it really satisfying to be able to contribute to something useful during the trip rather than just being a spectator while fellow student Emma Barr said she would love to come back in 10 to 20 years time to see how the trees had grown.

Rainforest Rescue’s Project Officer, David Cook, said he was really impressed by how well the students worked despite the wet and muddy conditions on the day. “They are welcome back any time” said Mr. Cook, “It was wonderful to get such an unexpected boost of volunteer labour at such short notice”.