On Friday, 26 March 2021, Year 5 and 6 students from St Mary’s South Public School in Monfarville Street, St Marys, planted native trees and plants in their school grounds to mark the International Day of Forests under the guidance of Principal Harry Vasilla.
Supported by the partnership between the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment and Greening Australia’s Cooling the Schools Program, the event promoted opportunities for children to connect positively with nature and empower them to encourage their communities to create greener, cooler places where both people and nature can thrive. This principle aligns with the NSW Government’s Greening our City Premier’s Priority for Greening our City.
“Trees play an important role in making the places we live and work greener and more sustainable. Trees can help lower heat, they provide shade for when we’re out and active and provide habitat for our unique wildlife,” stated Steve Hartley, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment’s Executive Director, Environmental Infrastructure Planning and Resilient Places.
The International Day of the Forests’ planting day was proudly supported by the Australian Council for Human Rights Education (ACHRE), by empowering children to play an important role in society by becoming active agents of change.
The International Day of Forests, proclaimed by the UN in 2012, is a UN Observance Day created to serve as a powerful tool to advocate for all that is good in our world.
“The commemoration of the International Day of Forests at St Mary’s South Public School is the simplest, positive and most evocative way in which the students will be inspired to learn that they have played a small part in ensuring a greener world for their future.” stated ACHRE president, Dr Zeny Edwards. “Our objective aligns perfectly with Greening Australia’s Cooling the Schools project by promoting opportunities for children to connect with nature and to take positive action in showing their communities their way of creating greener, cooler places where both people and nature can thrive.”
ACHRE promoted the UN Sustainable Development Goals with this event. It is a valuable human right that everyone is entitled to live in a safe and healthy environment to “Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. The ceremony would serve as a catalyst by motivating others and by inspiring more schools and communities to plant more trees and ‘green’ their public spaces:
1. To instill in children the love of forests, and that every tree counts.
2. To promote an appreciation of the natural environment and the responsibility to care for it.
3. To teach the children that ‘greening’ their open spaces will provide cleaner air and the benefits for mental and physical health
4. To teach children the value of trees in providing benefits for the whole community by reducing air pollution, cooling buildings and providing pleasant spaces to work and play
For many years now, this amazing global celebration of marking the International Day of Forests has been creating awareness all over the world about the importance of forests. Forests are one of our greatest natural treasures that we must preserve and protect.
The image is of Ms Nicola Masters, Senior Program Officer of Cooling the Schools Program for Greening Australia leading the students for St Mary’s South planting day.