DROMANA Secondary College has showcased its creativity after students participated in an art competition raising awareness of the threatened southern brown bandicoot. It was the second year running that the school joined forces with the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) Community Mornington to be a part of the initiative.
The bandicoot, a small, nocturnal marsupial, native to eastern Australia, has seen a significant decline in numbers, with the last sighting on the peninsula being recorded in Hastings about 20 years ago. However, while its numbers were prevalent at the Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, Dr Jodi Vermaas of ACF Mornington said the art competition was critical in engaging the community and hopefully “maintaining the species that we have sadly lost in the wild here”. Vermaas said, “The reason why we champion that species is that it was once really common on the Mornington Peninsula, and it’s really important species for fire mitigation”. “It does a lot of soil turnover and incorporates small leaf litter and small twigs and things into the soil profile and helps the composting of that very flammable material.”
The school’s head of arts Jyoti Funston said the competition saw an impressive array of entries from students in Years 7 to 11, “each creatively highlighting the importance of protecting our area’s most vulnerable creatures”. “Using a wide range of materials and techniques, students demonstrated their talent and dedication in creating art that not only showcases their skills but also carries a vital environmental message,” she said. Funston said the school was incredibly proud of all students who participated in the ACF sponsored project, which reinforced “the power of art as a vehicle for positive change”.
Nepean MP Sam Groth also threw his support behind the initiative by helping with judging the art pieces during a visit to the school on 11 November. Vermaas encouraged anyone living on the peninsula to “watch out for bandicoots and certainly report the sighting if they do see them”, noting the ACF “would really like to pursue investigating” their existence. “We would love to hear about it if they see one, but you can also use iNaturalist or the Atlas of Living Australia,” she said.
Vermaas said there was a protection zone at the Yaringa Marine National Park in Western Port for bandicoots but there hadn’t been active searches for the marsupial in that location “for some time,” so “whether they actually are in existence in that area or not has not been determined”.
First published in the Mornington News – 19 November 2024
