Students at Zig Zag Public School participating in the B&B Highway pollinator program
Story and photos by Lis Bastian. Video by Kalani Gacon.
Pollinators are critical for life on earth. As we face a biodiversity crisis in which we’re losing plants and animals at an alarming rate, the Rotary Club of Blackheath and Planting Seeds with their B&B Highway pollinator program, have collaborated to inspire all ages to take action to protect and regenerate habitat and help reverse this decline by supporting pollinators, in particular, to flourish.
Key Points:
We can all take action to reverse the alarming loss of biodiversity by reducing chemical use and land clearing, and by providing food, water and shelter for pollinators.
Rotary International has made Protecting the Environment a new area of focus and the Rotary Club of Blackheath has used a global grant from Rotary to increase education about, and habitat for, pollinators.
Planting Seeds has been supported by Blackheath Rotary to run its B&B Highway program at Zig Zag Public School in Lithgow and Blackheath Public School in the Blue Mountains.
Four years ago, Rotary International made Protecting the Environment a new area of focus and over the past year the Rotary Club of Blackheath has used a Rotary District Grant to fund a Pollinator Education and Action Program.
Initially inspired by Rotarians for Bees, the Blackheath Club has held a Pollinator Forum with the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative (see https://blackheathnews.com/birds-bees-butterflies-bats-pollinators/) , it has built bird boxes with local Men’s Sheds, it has shared seed packs to help the community plant more pollinating plants, and in April this year it funded and volunteered to support B&B Highway programs at Blackheath Public School and Zig Zag Public School in Lithgow.
The B&B Highway Program at Zig Zag Public School in Lithgow(Video: Kalani Gacon)
L-R: Libby Bleakley, Mina Howard and Sherlie McMillan from the Rotary Club of Blackheath volunteering for the B&B program at Blackheath Public School. (Photo: Lis Bastian)
Dr Judy Friedlander is the founder of Planting Seeds. Her PhD focused on how to sell a difficult message, like biodiversity loss, in a way that empowers people to take action to arrest the situation.
B&B Highways, the flagship program for Planting Seeds, are ‘Bed and Breakfasts for Birds, Bees and Biodiversity’. The programs provide both theoretical and practical steps for protecting and regenerating habitat for pollinators to create wildlife corridors in urban and semi-urban environments.
Dr Judy Friedlander (left) explaining how to record insects found in the ‘bug hunt’. (Photo: Lis Bastian)
Halina Pochwyt from Wildplant Rescue, volunteering to show students how to plant natives to increase food and habitat for pollinators in the Blackheath Public School garden. (Photo: Lis Bastian)
Stage three students (years 5 & 6) at Lithgow and Blackheath learnt how they could support pollinators by providing food, water and shelter for them, then took part in a garden bug hunt, before planting habitat for pollinators in their school gardens.
Nicole Lewis, Chief B&B Highway educator, sharing information about pollinators with students at Blackheath Public School. (Photo: Lis Bastian)
One of the insects found by a student during the ‘bug hunt’. (Photo: Lis Bastian)
See the program in action at Lithgow’s Zig Zag Public School here > and find out more about Planting Seeds’ B&B Highway initiative here >
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
@mark_greenhill_oam, Mayor of the City of Blue Mountains, welcomed participants to the Forum: Ban the Bomb, Sign the Treaty at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium. As a signatory of Mayors for Peace he spoke of the urgency to act to prevent nuclear war and to end the genocide in Gaza.
The Peace Symposium was organised to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
You can watch our full playlist of videos for Making Peace on our YouTube channel (link in profile): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODwpPinQx4&list=PLBu_QF9Pp5hPoaLWW0ZLHhwS6hPd-x-Rl
View Ecopella`s rousing anthem `You`re Needed Now!` They performed it at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium on the eve of the March for Humanity and the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Contact them if you`re interested in joining the choir which has branches around Eastern NSW.
If you`d like to hear the other presentations at the Symposium visit the Planetary Health YouTube channel (link in profile)
Renowned Permaculture teacher and Katoomba resident Rowe Morrow has been a Quaker for 40 years. She spoke at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium about the extraordinary work Quakers have done, and are doing, for Peace, and the strategies they`ve developed: from working to abolish slavery, to being instrumental in starting Oxfam and Amnesty International, to training communities in non-violent communication and conflict resolution, conscientious objection, direct action, divestment strategies and more. You can listen to her discuss these in her presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODwpPinQx4&t=5s
This week President Trump gave an order for two nuclear submarines to proceed towards Russia. This act was the starting point of Robert Tickner`s talk at the Forum: Ban the Bomb, Sign the Treaty in the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium yesterday.
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and, as ICAN Ambassador, Robert Tickner helped launch ICAN`s Week of Action for Abolition at the Symposium. You can listen to his full talk in the video below or view it on YouTube via link in profile:
Despite the very challenging weather for the Peace Symposium yesterday we also enjoyed an indoor `Community Picnic` with delicious food, origami crane and badge making workshops, a book stall by RoseyRavelston books, and wonderful performances by Ecopella and the Bearded Ladies Community Choir. The venue was dotted with historical posters reflecting a long history of the Blue Mountains taking a stand against war and nuclear weapons and we were thrilled to hear during the Symposium that the Supreme Court had authorised the March for Humanity today.
A huge thank you to the @bm_peace_collective, the speakers, very engaged participants, performers, volunteers and staff who helped make the inaugural Blue Mountains Peace Symposium such a success yesterday! We heard from CEO Dr Rosemary Dillon, Dharug man Chris Tobin, journalist and teacher Harumi Hayakawa, Rotarian Jennifer Scott, Quaker Rowe Morrow, artist Matilda Emmerich, Peace Collective members Bruce Cornwall and Catherine Dobbie, Mayor Mark Greenhill, MC Nick Franklin, ICAN Ambassador Robert Tickner, Indonesian ambassador Siswo Pramono, Federal Member Susan Templeman MP and members of the audience. If you`d like to get involved and receive information about future events you can subscribe to receive our newsletter via the Planetary Health website here (link in profile): https://www.bluemountainsplanetaryhealth.com.au/
The Blue Mountains Peace Symposium kicks off at 10am today at the Planetary Health Centre: 33-39 Acacia St Katoomba (former Katoomba Golf Course). Lots of dry cosy warm events! View the full program and reserve your spot here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/blue-mountains-peace-symposium...
Warm your heart, mind and body at the Peace Symposium this Saturday. Support local businesses when you grab a steaming hot Roasters with Altitude coffee, and sample delicious plant-based foods from Bibi’s Kitchen, 1Two1 Cafe, Good Fat Pastry and Whisk & Pin. We’re kicking off with free Tai Chi & Quigong at 8am, talks and community forums on peace from 10-4pm, art for peace, and the indoor ‘community picnic’ from 12.30 with Ecopella and the Bearded Ladies Community Choir, origami crane and badge making, and a RoseyRavelston book stall! The Symposium is being held at the Planetary Health Centre: 33-39 Acacia St Katoomba (former Katoomba Golf Club) View the full program and reserve your spot here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/blue-mountains-peace-symposium
This Saturday the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium will start at 10am with powerful and moving presentations by Dharug man Chris Tobin and Japanese journalist and teacher Harumi Hayakawa. Join Harumi over lunch to make origami cranes for peace, hope and healing in memory of Sadako Sasaki. "At just two years old, she was exposed to radiation in Hiroshima. At twelve, she developed leukaemia. While in hospital, she heard the legend: if you fold 1,000 paper cranes, your wish will come true. Her wish was to recover. She folded cranes with hope and determination—but sadly, she passed away at just twelve. Her story touched hearts around the world, and the paper crane has since become a global symbol of peace." (Harumi Hayakawa) The Symposium is being held at the Planetary Health Centre: 33-39 Acacia St Katoomba (former Katoomba Golf Club) View the full program and reserve your spot here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/blue-mountains-peace-symposium
We`re setting up lots of cosy warm indoor spaces for the Peace Symposium and `Community Picnic` this Sat 2nd August and we`re thrilled that RosyRavelston Books will be there with their `books that change the world`! The Blue Mountains Peace Collective presented them with this poster designed by Melbourne-based Japanese artist Hiroyasu Tsuri, also known as TWOONE@t_w_o_o_n_e. @ican_australia commissioned this artwork to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan and the first nuclear test on First Nations land in New Mexico, USA, in 1945. It depicts symbols of peace and survival in the wake of nuclear devastation. View the full program for the Symposium and book your tickets here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/blue-mountains-peace-symposium
Sixteen-year-old HART Youth Ambassador, Matilda Emmerich will be displaying her oil painting and poem “Where Hope Sits" and discussing her experience of having it banned at 11.30am this Saturday 2nd August at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. Artwork and poem can be seen here: https://www.hartyouth.com/art
Places are limited so bookings essential here (link in profile): https://events.humanitix.com/blue-mountains-peace-symposium
Lis Bastian is the Senior Lead for Blue Mountains City Council’s Planetary Health Initiative. She is the editor of the Local News Platforms and has been a writer, editor, news presenter and teacher/lecturer covering both cultural and environmental issues for over 30 years. She has been pioneering Solutions/Constructive Journalism in Australia since 2012.
