The ‘Macleay Eco Explorers’ Enviro-Stories program will provide local students with the opportunity to learn about the environment, climate change and how to manage and protect the Macleay Valley region’s biodiversity and natural resources.
This Enviro-Stories program gives students the opportunity to become one of our Macleay Eco Explorers as they research and learn local issues. Students will use this knowledge to create a storybook to help others learn about the magnificent Macleay Valley.
The Macleay Valley is a place of natural abundance, stunning landscapes, historic settlements and rich character and culture. The Macleay had quite an extraordinary diverse environment, comprising of beautiful mountains and forested areas, open farmlands, urban areas, sensational coastal beaches and seaside towns and villages.
Our Macleay region is home to over 15,000 hectares of National Parks and 79 kilometres of pristine coastline. The diverse range of individual plant species and vegetation range from coastal heathland to subtropical warm temperature and cool temperature rainforests. This broad variety of habitat supports a large diversity of fauna within our region.
Kempsey Shire Council’s corporate vision is to lead and work with our community to build and inspired, connected Macleay Valley. Our community is at the heart of our decision making and plays an essential role in setting our strategic direction.
The Kempsey Shire Council Local Government Area is located within the NSW Mid North Coast and covers an area of 3,380 km2 with a population of approximately 30,000 residents.
The principal town in the Shire is Kempsey. Kempsey is located approximately halfway between the state capitals of Sydney and Brisbane and is halfway between the regional centres of Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.
Kempsey Shire is bounded by:
- Nambucca Shire Council to the north
- Armidale Regional Council and Walcha Council to the west
- Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to the south
- The Pacific Ocean to the east.
What do I have to do?
STEP 1
Download the Story Template.
STEP 2
Identify and research your Macleay Eco Explorers topic.
Click on the toggle below to show details of the first Eco Explorer topic – Climate Crusaders. Use the background information to help with your research. More topics will be added as the program progresses.
Come join in with us and become a Climate Crusader!
Climate change is already affecting the way we live, and its impacts are becoming more intense.
It is important that we work together to address climate change wherever we can. This means reducing our carbon emissions, living more sustainably and adapting to possible changes in our climate that can’t be avoided.
Climate change impacts
The consequences of climate change are already being felt in Australia. The main types of extreme climate events that are predicted to worsen as the climate warms further are:
- temperature extremes, including heatwaves and extreme cold
- extreme rainfall, floods, snow and drought
- storm events, including dust storms, thunderstorms, hail and lightning
- wind gusts, storm surges and coastal inundation
- extreme east coast lows
- bushfires and severe fire weather
- compounding or coincident extreme climate events.
These events and associated changes are expected to affect many things, such as human health, biodiversity – including plants, animals and environments – coastal living conditions, soil and water resources.
What you can do
There are many ways to reduce your contribution to climate change. It is easy to make small changes with big impacts in areas like energy, transport and food consumption. For example, you can:
- reduce the amount of electricity you use and switch to renewable energy where possible
- cut your transport emissions by walking, riding a bike or using public transport or car pools
- buy locally produced food and reduce food waste
- eat less resource-intensive foods such as red meat
- make your property more sustainable: plant trees, install rainwater tanks and solar panels, insulate your house and make it draught-proof
- buy fewer disposable products, reduce waste and recycle
- plan for increases extreme weather events such a heat waves and flooding.
Some ideas for your storybooks
We encourage your books to be as creative as possible, just telling a good story. However, they should address issues related to climate change. Some ideas:
- What is climate change?
- How I became a climate crusader (a superhero story).
- How does climate change affect our native animals?
- Local effects of climate change such as droughts, floods and fires.
- Ways to help reduce climate change (could be a fact-finding story).
- Impacts on coral reefs.
- Impacts on water ways and availability.
- Tales of our house – explaining what our homes/properties have gone through with the effects of climate change.
Remember the books should be appealing to your audience of fellow students. The audience needs to be able to relate and understanding how the climate is going to impact them and their surroundings and what they can do to help.
Helpful climate links
STEP 3
Write and illustrate a 15 page story plus 1 cover page as outlined in the Story Template. Make sure you:
- View our Hints and Tips about how to write a good Enviro-Stories book. READ MORE
- Check out previous books to see how the books are laid out and the amount of text that has been used. GO TO THE LIBRARY
- Check the story to ensure any scientific or technical details are accurate.
- Check the spelling and grammar.
STEP 4
Fill in our evaluation form for TEACHERS and STUDENTS.
STEP 5
Post the story and original illustrations to:
Chase Nolan-Eather
Kempsey Shire Council
PO Box 3078
West Kempsey NSW 2440
Need some help?
For any questions about participating in the MidCoast Marvels Enviro-Stories program, please contact:
Peter Coleman
Enviro-Stories Coordinator
Based in Victoria
Mobile: 0411 729 444
Email: admin@envirostories.com.au
For any questions about the topic and local advice and support, please contact:
Chase Nolan-Eather
Environmental Trainee, Kempsey Shire Council
Mobile: 0474 513 874
Email: chase.nolan-eather@kempsey.nsw.gov.au
Checklist before submitting your entry
Program Sponsor
