Gerran Keith reports on Paua dune planting last month. A mammoth effort by our students. Our community service is very much appreciated by Coast Care.

On Tuesday my class and I went dune planting at Arataki Beach. At about 8:40am we left school and walked down to Arataki Beach with all the Paua students and parents. Once we got there we met one of the Coast Care people named Chris Ward. We were then told to buddy up with another person and I decided to buddy up with my friend Joshua.

Then we had to walk over to a Coast Care flag where we were going to plant juvenile pingao seedlings. First we were shown images of erosion along the coast and then told a bit of the story. A long time ago in the Depression, groups of unemployed people planted Marram Grass in the dunes to help build up the dunes. It worked but in the process it killed the native Pingao and Spinifex plants, destroying some native dune animal homes as well.

After the discussion we got digging. I dug a hole that was to the depth of a blue tape stuck on the handle of the spade. This indicator gave us the right depth of the hole. We first placed fertilizer in the hole and then we planted the Pingao. We filled the hole in and then we got on and planted more pingao. Joshua and I found a special area for us to plant and we planted eight of pingao.

After we had filled the dune area with all the pingao seedlings Chris had provided we said our goodbyes and left at 11:20 to walk back to school. Chris was very happy with our efforts and we were pretty tired after our morning of planting at the beach.

P.S. Coast care's Chris Ward says our kids plant more plants than any other school he works with- Why? Because our kids listen to instructions the first time and get on with the job without slacking.

They know what hard work it and they enjoy giving back.

Great feedback from a man who knows!