Plant a tree, cool the Earth

SAN REMO Primary School and Our Lady Star of the Sea grade five and six students convened at the Penguin Parade recently in a show of solidarity with students around the world.

Hosted by Phillip Island Nature Parks, in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Marine Science’s Dr Marji Puotinen, the event was a spectacular hit raising awareness and giving students the chance to be part of a larger movement.

“Earth’s climate is changing,” Research Scientist, Dr Marji Puotinen said.

“The first contest I ran in 2018 because I was going to Antarctica with an international leadership program, and I wanted to do something worthy.

“That’s when I first decided to get kids to draw what they love most about coral reefs and penguins.

“I then made a giant banner of all the drawings – 1246 from 11 countries and we took it to Antarctica.

“This time, I wasn’t going to Antarctica, but we wanted to plant a tree for every drawing we received and focus on solutions. Touring with the banner is a way to inspire people to continue to find the pathways to their own actions that they feel comfortable with.

“This banner has been to six countries and has been visited by 26 schools to date. We are going to keep politicians and diplomats on their toes.”

Well informed about the local penguin colony, Dr Puotinen introduced students to the other penguins around the world and in particular those that are endangered particularly due to oil spills, melting sea caps and climate change.

“Most penguins live with ice and when that ice melts that poses a problem and affects how easily they can find their food and become easier prey.”

In discussing the atmosphere and melting ice, Dr Puotinen explained the importance of krill and sea phytoplankton both at a local scale to creatures in Antarctica but also on a global scale and linked it back to Kids Care about Climate Action 2021’s overarching question: what do penguins and coral reefs have in common?

The huge banners measuring 7 metres long by 4.25 metres wide are made up on 2629 drawings from 33 nations and 213 schools and debuted at the United Nations Climate meeting in Glasgow in November 2021, before touring the world.

On Friday, students headed down to the sand with the giant banners before recording their messages to form a longer video for key politicians and policymakers in a push for greater urgency around slowing climate change.

“Children are the future care takers of our planet and will experience the impacts of climate change in a more profound way than any generation that came before them,” Catherine Basterfield, CEO Phillip Island Nature Parks said.

“The Nature Parks are excited to support this activity that gives children a voice to champion change in a meaningful and positive way.”

A video showing the giant banner with messages from kids around the world was shown at the United Nations climate meeting (COP27).