Coast Guardians Wrap-Up with Mel

17 July 2023

By Melanie Costanzo | Education Activity Coordinator

It has been another busy Term for Coast Guardians, with over 100 students taking part from Surf Coast Secondary College, Iona College and Sacred Heart College. Sessions covered a range of topics and activities including cultural heritage, erosion and dune protection, biodiversity surveys, litter audits, sustainability, threatened species, conservation and natural resource management practices. Coast Guardian students also contributed almost 100 hours of conservation work at Point Impossible, Fishermans Beach, Jan Juc Grasslands, the Anglesea River mouth and Point Roadknight.

Activities included several litter clean-ups and the removal of invasive plants including Coast Tea-tree, Sallow wattle, Marram grass and Flat-weeds. It was great to introduce a new school to the program, with the growing Iona College attending with their entire Year 10 cohort for the first time.

Upon completing their program, teachers were impressed with how much information students retained from their three sessions. Pre and post surveys also showed the students’ increased awareness of threats to the coast such as weed invasion and erosion, as well as cultural heritage awareness, knowledge of coastal biodiversity and an increased desire to volunteer to care for the environment.

To find out how to get involved in our Coast Guardians program, please email education@greatoceanroadauthority.vic.gov.au or use the following link Coast Guardians Program.