Young leaders help restore grasslands in Melbourne's west
May 2011
Eighteen young people from the four corners of the globe recently worked together to help restore the precious native grasslands of Melbourne’s west.
They received a warm Welcome to Country from Wurundjeri elder Aunty Di Kerr, who was moved by their united effort to take action for our environment. “It warms my soul to see so many people working together and sharing their culture on my traditional land,” Aunty Di said.
Environment Victoria's Multicultural Leaders in Sustainability (MLS) project continues to provide the opportunity for young migrants and refugees to not just learn about sustainability, but to take action and make a difference. The 2011 group hails from Darfur, Somalia, Ethiopia, Macedonia, Turkey, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Indonesia, and like young people everywhere, they want a healthy environment now and in the future.
Working at St Albans AMES English Language School, they have gained knowledge, confidence and skills to give a green example for their communities who are often not receiving environmental messages from the mainstream media. At the planting event they worked with Helen and Rick from the Jones Creek Restoration Group and planted 250 grasses and spread 10,000 native grass seeds at the native grasslands reserve next to St Albans Victoria University campus. They also came face to face with some of the site's native residents, including a fat, healthy bluetongue and an endangered striped legless lizard.
The MLS participants have also set up an electronic waste recycling collection at AMES Language School in St Albans, where the MLS project is based this year. From there, the collected lights and batteries are taken to Brimbank Council’s Detox Your Home collection point in Keilor Park, where they are recycled.
The mobile phones brought to the collection point, on the other hand, are recycled through the Zoos Victoria’s “They’re Calling on You” campaign. “They”, in this case, are gorillas. The mining of coltan, a metallic ore used for the production of mobile phones, is destroying the last remains of a suitable habitat for mountain gorillas and chimpanzees in Africa. The aim of the campaign is to reduce the demand for coltan by refurbishing and reusing the collected mobile phones, as well as raising funds for the conservation of the primates’ habitats in Africa.
Seeds in the grasslands of the West of Melbourne are not the only ones being sown. The seed of environmental action will be reaped by all their communities as the project keeps growing.
In 2011 MLS is being delivered in partnership with AMES St Albans. It is funded by the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, the R.E. Ross Trust, City West Water, Brimbank City Council. MLS was designed by Environment Victoria and the Centre for Multicultural Youth.
