Wattle seeds sprout imaginations at Balgowlah Heights Public School

Students have been involved in a pilot program, called Operation Wattle, to germinate seeds from the sunshine wattle (Acacia terminalis subspecies Eastern Sydney) plant which endemic to the eastern areas in Sydney.

The Australian native tree can grow to about six metres tall, but thanks to urbanisation it has become endangered.

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"I've learnt that plants are more than just little things that hang around, some produce food, some produce air like trees and some are endangered," Year 3 student Conrad Peters said.

The nine-year-old is in the school's garden club and said being part of the program has been a lot of fun.

"I just like helping plants and growing stuff. I think it's really good and fun," Conrad said.

Under licence from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife, the wattle seeds were collected from mature plants at North Head for the project.

Prior to the COVID lockdown students were going to germinate the seeds at the school and once mature enough the tubestock would be planted back at North Head, consultant ecologist and school parent Dr Ashlea Zivanovic said.

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"Students learn from industry experts (DPIE, NSW NPWS and Bush to Bowl) why the Sunshine Wattle is threatened and actively participate in the recovery and conservation of the species," she said.

After lockdown hit, Dr Zivanovic germinated the wattle over a 10-week period as students watched online from home and germinated their own, less endangered species.

They were also tasked with completing their own Operation Wattle project, with students making websites, posters, bookmarks, written poems or baked cupcakes to raise awareness about the species.

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The sunshine wattle seedlings will continue to mature, and in March 2022 the 105 students involved in Operation Wattle will join a planting day at North Head to plant the 500 sunshine wattle plants.

While Conrad is keen to plant the wattle they have grown, he's still not sure what career he'd like after school. When asked, he leans his head to his side, puts his thumb and forefinger to his chin and answers "I've still got a lot to think about with this".

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