Bringing the bush back to life
16 August 2010
On the road to recovery: Warringal Scout Camp is brought back to life with new native plantings.
When the Black Saturday bushfires swept through Victoria, the Warringal Scout Camp north of Whittlesea was left decimated.
Now, 18 months later through an initiative developed by Kangan Institute and JobCo Employment Services, new life has come back to the bush.
Kangan Institute program leader Andrew Priest said the program is designed to provide jobseekers with a formal qualification in horticulture and has helped more than 25 participants gain valuable work and life skills.
"Everyone taking part in the program spends four days a week at the Warringal Scout Camp, assisting in the regeneration of the site while being engaged in training assessment tasks and activities by the competent and knowledgeable teaching staff from Kangan Institute. Participants who successfully complete the course receive a Certificate II in Horticulture - Landscaping," he said.
"Students are learning a range of new skills such as how to plant trees, shrubs and ground covers successfully into the natural environment, also hard landscape skills like, paving and retaining wall construction and wildlife protection."
The regeneration project was established in February 2010 and Kangan Institute has provided access to accredited training for all course participants.
"The team faced some unique challenges when the project began," Andrew said.
"Following the fires, the site was cleared which lead to problems with soil erosion and decimation of the seed bank.
"The main aim now is to minimise site disturbance by stabilising the damage, allowing the site to regenerate naturally. Through use of indigenous plantings and considered site design, we're trying to minimise soil erosion and retain the remaining seed bank on site.
"We're sourcing indigenous plants from seeds of provenance to build the site back into its native surrounds."
Kangan Institute's horticulture department has developed a number of similar partnerships with various community organisations and businesses to deliver customised training.
