More than 150 children recently took part in fun-filled activities hosted by the Limestone Coast Landscape Board’s Education Team as part of National Water Week.

Kindergartens and primary schools from across the region were invited to the Valley Lake Conservation Park to celebrate the cultural importance of water with Indigenous leader Doug Nicholls.

The activities included a self-guided nature scavenger hunt and a macroinvertebrates sampling session to assess the health of the ecosystem and wetlands in the Conservation Park.

Akuna Kindy Director Tiana Pietrafesa was delighted the kindergarten had the opportunity to be involved.

“Our children really loved the Water Week experience,” Ms Pietrafesa said.

“They were engaged at every station and particularly loved investigating the macroinvertebrates.

“When returning to the kindergarten, a small group of children got to share back to the larger group and had retained information learned on the day about endangered animals, the different kinds of macroinvertebrates – such as back swimmers – and they loved talking about the boomerang they got to throw.”

The Education Team also took high school students on a tour of the unique karst rising spring at Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park.
Students learnt about the endangered animals that reside there and participated in a sampling session searching for native fish and macroinvertebrates.

They also viewed the restoration works and learnt about the resident and migratory shorebirds that live along the pristine part of the coastline from Friends of SE Shorebirds volunteers.

Glencoe Kindergarten students completed the 3km Swamp Gum Trail in Honan Native Forest Reserve and explored the seasonal swamp that was abundant with life.

The students were excited to find large numbers of tadpoles and a substantial variety of water bugs. 
National Water Week concluded with an event held in the Upper Limestone Coast at Bool Lagoon with primary school students taking part in birdwatching, cultural education sessions and a wetland walk.

National Water Week is held every year in the third week of October with the goal of building awareness around the value of water.
Recognising the importance water plays in our lives, Caring for water and Country aims to deepen the understanding of Australian First Nations people’s knowledge in protecting and sustaining water and lands for over 65,000 years.

With the deterioration of wetlands in the landscape and water being critical to industry and the economy, it is vital to educate the next generation about the significance of water within the region.