Muswellbrook students planting a greener future

Students from Muswellbrook's St James Primary School will be getting their hands dirty today, planting trees for Schools Tree Day.

The students aim to plant 300 trees, one for each student at the school, in a carbon reducing effort which will remove more than one tonne of carbon dioxide from the air each year.

The tree planting marks another step in the school's Together Today ClimateCam for Schools programme, with the students achieving their Trees for Carbon milestone.

Coal & Allied, working with Conservation Volunteers Australia, will be working with the students to plant the trees as part of National Tree Day, which has seen more than 12 million trees planted since 1996.

Jenny O'Brien, St James Primary School Acting Principal, said the students were looking forward to the environmental work.

"We have been learning about the environment in class, about the impact we make on the planet and the differences all of us can make at school and at home," Ms O'Brien said.

"Planting these trees means the children can take ownership of making a difference for the environment, they can watch the trees grow over time and get a sense of accomplishment from their involvement."

Antony Bijok, Coal & Allied General Manager Studies, said the tree planting would help the environment while growing greater links between the school and the mining company.

"Schools Tree Day is part of the biggest community tree planting event in Australia, last year about 200,000 children across the country got involved and we are happy to be getting involved in Muswellbrook," Mr Bijok said.

"We have worked closely with St James Primary School in the past and it is great to have the opportunity to partner with the school once again and to be able to provide learning opportunities for students in our region.

"Coal & Allied is looking forward to working again with the students and teachers of St James in the future."

ENDS

Media Enquiries:
Nathan Scholz
07 3361 4354 / 0417 613 174

Muswellbrook students planting a greener future [PDF: 26 KB]