‘TO seed knowledge and experience into future community leaders and environmental champions’ was the guiding objective of a series of workshops for Bellingen High School (BHS) students.

Over the course of 2022 with the Centre for Ecological Learning (CEL) Inc, supported by Bellingen Shire Council Resilience grant funding, BHS students completed the ‘Bellingen Bush Engagement Project’, culminating in a short film by talented videographer Ryan Jasper Walsh (see link below).

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“I enjoyed learning about how the forest ecosystem works and how climate change is affecting the area we live in,” Roxy Thomas, Bellingen High student commented.

The ‘Waagay ambala’ (let’s make fire) workshop, shared Indigenous fire knowledge, with stories from Uncle Micklo Jarrett, making fire by friction with Troy Robinson, learning about cultural burning with Ricky and Jamie, and cooking fish wrapped in paperbark over fire.

“What I found interesting was learning about how quickly fire spreads, how quickly it goes up and
down hills, and learning about fire in general and about dreamtime stories and the culture of Aboriginal people,” said Nina Moir, BHS student.

Next was a day of Deep Ecology activities with CEL out in Glennifer, where students especially enjoyed resting, connecting and being on Country, including learning about connecting with nature through ‘sit spots’, “where you just sit in a field and take in the nature around you”, shared BHS student Elana Kolosque. .

The last workshop was an ‘Ecosystems at Risk’ field trip with National Parks and Wildlife Service in Dorrigo National Park where students learned about the bigger picture of the Gondwana rainforest ecosystem in Dorrigo and some of the threats facing it today.

“We don’t know which parts of the ecosystem are the most important and there’s still not enough research done to know which are the keystone species,” reflected Imogen Laverty.

The project culminated in a Youth Forum in September where students came together with a supportive community to be inspired by guest speakers, share concerns and ideas, and be supported into action, which left Erik Nelson feeling “a newfound sense of hope and inspiration”.

The final frame of the film leaves us with a student reflecting “exactly how long will it be until nothing we do will change it…we really need to tell people that, to make it a thing people care about…I hear 2030 or 2050, an exact date would be good”.

The short film is available for viewing now at https://youtu.be/KomT4N2j6fk.

The team at the Centre for Ecological Learning conveys a deep appreciation to Ryan Jasper Walsh of ÆON VISION who generously shared his skills to make this film a reality.

Also to Bellingen Shire Council for the resilience grant funding.

Coming up in March 2023 CEL invites youth to a community visioning event to help shape the community and world we want to live in and leave for future generations to come.

Visit www.cel.org.au and subscribe to the CEL newsletter.

By Andrea FERRARI