To contextualize the Curdies Stories project for our Year 9 Humanities students, we undertook a field trip to the Curdies estuary at Peterborough to help our students get a sense of time and place as they prepare to record and publish the oral histories of people who live, work and relax in the Curdies River catchment area. Kate Leslie, from Heytesbury and District Landcare Network (HDLN), introduced the project by recalling the recent algal blooms, fish kills and stock deaths that lead to the formation of the Curdies River Catchment Alliance (CRCA) to advocate for the health of the Curdies. The idea of collecting and recalling peoples’ stories of the Curdies evolved and we invited Barb Mullen and Dean Drayton from CRCA and Gene Gardiner from Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA) to provide their perspectives of this vital waterway. Barb familiarized students with the Curdies River ecosystem, described the EPBC list (extinct, critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable) explaining that the Curdies estuary itself is on that list. She described the layers of water in the estuary; ecosystems in one big ecosystem, vulnerable species like the Yarra Pygmy Perch, platypus, local birdlife and the CASS soils around the estuary. Dean recalled stories from his childhood growing up on the Curdies near Timboon, the impact of land clearing on the Heytesbury settlement, subsequent revegetation efforts, and how wildlife like wallabies, the Powerful Owl, eagles, Black Fish and platypus interact with the waterways. Gene provided maps, data and photos that recorded the impact of land clearing, erosion, nutrient loading, flooding events and previous regenerative attempts like willow trees and then proposed solutions such as vegetive soaks, fencing off waterways, stopping new nutrients entering the system, selective land clearing with replanting or revegetation measures. He described the process of artifically opening the Curdies River mouth and the checks and balances that were in place to lesson impacts to the social, economic and environmental values of the estuary. Students were left with the realisation that the Curdies River catchment area is like the lungs of this sensitive ecosystem breathing life into the land around it. Equipped with a better understanding of the science of the Curdies catchment it will help us to better manage and protect this fragile bionetwork.Thanks Kate, Barb, Dean, Gene and Michelle, can’t wait to read the stories the students collect! Comments are closed.
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April 2024
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