Costa toured the festival site to inspect the new Arboretum plantings, planted a tree and delivered a stimulating, challenging address, which was very well received by an audience of some 120, according to Four Winds arboretum overseer and local botanist Stuart Cameron. 

“The Four Winds Arboretum is being established to demonstrate the diversity and horticultural potential of local native plants to the site's many visitors,” Mr Cameron said. “About 2000 trees and shrubs are being planted in 2015-16.”

Costa was impressed to see the collection of regional plant species as well as the restoration and regeneration of the Four Winds site with the help of a master plan committee working on a 35-year plan.

“Yes I repeat a 35-year plan,” he said. 

The project, overseen by Mr Cameron, is one of a constellation of local environmental projects related to the Far South Coast Landcare Associations' overarching “Protecting the Wilderness Coast Project”, which he also co-ordinates and that aims both to control invasive plants and increase awareness of the value of local native species .

Costa meanwhile jump-started the day by visiting Narooma Public School and their recently- constructed recycled bottle glass house, their school garden and the community garden on site, which he said was “an awesome collaboration”. Read more about the bottle glasshouse 

On Wednesday, he also visited Tathra Primary School and Tanja Primary Schools to tour their permaculture school gardens and then in the afternoon went to Bermagui Primary School for a tour of their garden and a performance of their wetlands song written by local Yuin artists.