Vandals rip heart out of children’s project
A GROUP of kids who plant trees to combat erosion at Clifton Beach have been left heartbroken after their shrubs were ripped out and cut down.
Up to 100 plants have been uprooted at the Northern Beaches foreshore just months after they were planted on Upolu Esplanade at the end of last year.
AIDE Club co-founder Sylvia Conway said it had been an ongoing “dilemma” in the area.
“For us, we put a lot of effort into it for the children to plant the trees and teach them about minimising erosion issues on the foreshore,” she said.
“It is pretty sad to go there and see that they had all been ripped out and pulled down.”
The trees were part of revegetation efforts by an afterschool environment program called AIDE Club. Some trees were about one year old and almost 2m high.
AIDE Club is run by a notfor-profit organisation called Children for Change.
“We have taken on that site as our own for the kids to be able to come back and do maintenance activities, to water and mulch their trees and watch their trees growing,” Ms Conway said.
“It is just for the children to be able to see their progress. It is quite disappointing they got ripped out and we have to start that process again.”
The program is marketed to kids aged 7-14 years and aims to promote ecology principles.
It is run in partnership with the Cairns Regional Council. Ms Conway said they planned to replant the trees on July 31.
“There is no evidence of the actual act of people doing it, but some have been cut out with a saw,” she said.
“Others, because they are freshly planted, they are easy just to pull out with your hands.”
The club meets every Monday afternoon during the school term.
For further information visit the program’s website at childrenforchange.org.
IT IS JUST FOR THE CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO SEE THEIR PROGRESS. IT IS QUITE DISAPPOINTING THEY GOT RIPPED OUT AND WE HAVE TO START THAT PROCESS AGAIN
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