Youth Leading Wodonga Plantathon sow 1500 trees at Gateway Lakes

The youth-led 'Plantathon' organised by Youth Leading Wodonga ran from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Thursday, September 28.

The Plantathon is a community planting event with a youthful twist, featuring music, games, pop quizzes, dance-offs, prizes and other elements the young organisers wanted to incorporate.

Sixteen-year-old Devika Rangubhatla said more young people needed to get involved in protecting the beautiful rivers and wetlands in Albury and Wodonga.

"It's important for people to realise what impact they can make on the environment because if we don't take care of the environment, we don't have a future," she said.

"We're the next generation that will inherit this world. And it's really important that we understand how to take care of and love it.

"Because if you don't love it, it will be much harder to take care of it."

The Plantathon, held in September to celebrate both youth and biodiversity month, was inspired by a Youth Leading Wodonga Planning Day held in late July.

Wodonga Urban Land Care Network facilitator, Jo Vincent, said the planning day was about exposing the youth to some of the environmental issues facing the Border.

"We had a range of speakers talking about habitat loss, climate change, waste management and reusing our clothes rather than sending them to waste," she said.

"But we wanted the day to be positive, so it was also about what solutions could be implemented as well.

"So in the afternoon, the youth networked and workshopped and came up with an event they wanted to plan and implement. And this is it."

All the native plants and trees, which include blackwoods, red gums, and a variety of wetland plants and shrubs, were sourced locally from Our Native Garden Nursery in Wodonga.

Ms Vincent said she hopes the Plantathon will become an annual event.

"Our intention is to engage more youth in environmental volunteering, build their skills in project planning and implementation and do something positive for the environment," she said.

"It's critical to our future for kids to understand what the issues are and what action they can take to make the world a better place."

The Plantathon was supported by Wodonga Council and the FReeZA and Friends Group, with joint funding from the Victorian Government through the Environmental Volunteering New Growth Project and the Australian Government under the Murray-Darling Healthy Rivers Program.

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