News & Events

The Gippsland Forestry Hub (GFH) is proud to partner with Yarram Secondary College for their Broadening Arisings 10-week program.

Together with other representatives of local industries, twenty Year 8 students participated in projects that aimed to overcome challenges to the forestry industry by proposing new ideas and solutions.

GFH General Manager Lesia Clark attended the class fortnightly over Term 3 as a mentor to support the students in completing their forestry projects.

These inventive student-led forestry projects included:

• Waste to energy: where students look at how waste clearing for forest coupes could be improved and what the waste could become.
• Farm forestry: how can the GFH work with farmers to utilise their land for commercial trees alongside their cattle and sheep?
• Remodel of harvester machines: students looked at machinery protection and discussed ‘how to keep contractor’s machinery safe from fire and vandalism’.
• Two students developed a GFHub forestry newsletter to disseminate news and information about the industry.

At the end of the program, the students presented their ideas to mentors, parents and teachers followed by a BBQ lunch.

“This is my second year as a mentor, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching students’ ideas blossom,” said Clark. “It’s a terrific program and I look forward to being a part of it again next year.

“The feedback I’ve received from teachers is that the program is extremely rewarding not only for the students but also for local industries. I would like to encourage more schools in our region to take up this great initiative – it’s extremely satisfying to see how this program gives students an insight into many different career pathways.”