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Cedar Creek Catchment Awareness
The Background
For years, Ferny Grove State High School has been a steward of Cedar Creek that adjoins the school grounds. Lisa Batten and Rebekah Waite, two Year 11 Geography students, noticed that while the rehabilitation of the creek resulted in a healthy environment within school grounds, the Creek’s environment deteriorated rapidly as it meandered through the surrounding suburbs. They further realised that although the school was working with their local council and community groups, the level of awareness in the local area of each household’s impact on the Creek was minimal. There was a lack of information on exactly what the local residents could do to help protect the health of their catchment. So with these observations in mind, the pair set out to do something about it.
The Project
Lisa and Rebekah decided to use satellite images to show local residents how their proximity to the creek adversely affected it. Combining these images with some helpful hints on what each household could do to improve the creek’s health, the two students produced leaflets to deliver to local letter boxes. The detailed satellite imagery allowed Lisa and Rebekah to divide the local catchment into visual zones. Residents could see their own house, their location within the catchment and ecosystem, and their proximity to the creek and its natural drainage patterns. Residents were informed of a few simple things they could do within their own houses to reduce their negative impact on the creek and through the leaflets, encouraged to volunteer their help.
The Journey
- Lisa and Rebekah developed a range of skills, including graphic design, geographic information systems mapping, and active communication;
- The pair explored the concept of interconnectedness and how the overall health of an ecosystem is contingent upon the health of all of its parts;
- The students took responsibility for a challenge as process of building skills for active socially and environmentally aware citizens.
Through the Cedar Creek Catchment Awareness project, Lisa and Rebekah aspired to raise the understanding of their local community to the fact that they lived within an ecosystem: the catchment area of Cedar Creek.
