Seven Year 11 geography students from west Sydney’s Greystanes High School happily gave up a weekend last term to participate in a tree-planting project in the Capertee Valley.

Greystanes High geography teacher Sally Horner said she had looked for “a civics and citizenship style project to link to their fieldwork component”.

The Capertee Valley tree-planting project is re-establishing the habitat of the endangered Regent Honeyeater, studied by the students as part of the biosphere topic.

Ms Horner said the students were excited about the excursion but had not expected how much hard work it would be. Each student planted about 28 trees. “They collected leaf samples from different species and developed an understanding of the difference between trees for nesting and trees for eating. The planting provided practical knowledge of habitat replacement,” Ms Horner said.

“We had a really nice social time too, which has led to greater support for each other in the classroom.”

Most students had never spent time in the bush.

“They were a bit scared at night … but they also enjoyed sitting and talking over dinner, because there was no television to watch,” Ms Horner said.

The excursion has improved the confidence of students. “They are more enthusiastic learners in the classroom and have a better overall picture of how the ecology works within environments,” Ms Horner said.

NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change threatened species officer Tiffany Mason, said tree-planting days could inspire a lifelong commitment to conservation.

“Ultimately, there’s the realisation that what they’ve accomplished in a day will take another 20 years to come to fruition,” Ms Mason said.