South Coast animal sanctuary hosts tree planting, First Nations medicinal plants lesson

"It's so great to see so many other people just enjoying planting trees, it's fun," Moss said.

"It's a really great experience planting a tree and knowing you got something out of it, I planted that tree, it's so good."

On Friday, October 27, primary school students from St Patricks, Mumbulla, Bega, Tathra and Pambula shared in a hands-on lesson with Ngiyampaa man and farmer manager for Black Duck Foods, Chris Harris, who brought along some foods he had grown.

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"I wanted to talk about not only the food but also the medicinal side of our foods as well, and I've got a few plants so I'll go through each one," Mr Harris said, who learnt from his elders.

"I've got some Microseris, the Yam Daisy, and a few species of the Arthropodium, the Choc Lily, Lilly Pilly, Dianella Revoluta, and Kurrajong," he said

He said the leaves of the Kurrajong can be boiled to fix back pains, sore chest and stomach gastro problems, and when he was three to four years old, he would dig up the Kurrajong because of their edible tuberous root, and the seed can be used to create flour, and the bark for rope.

"I grew up eating all these foods, so I think I always had a fairly strong immune system because I was eating these foods, the foods were the medicine," Mr Harris said.

"Aboriginal people never waste anything, it's a part of their culture."

Jean Bentley is a Landcare coordinator who assisted with the planting.

"They've all been grown from local seeds, Landcare have their own seed banks, so we have someone going out collecting native seeds to make sure they're indigenous to this area," Ms Bentley said.

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"They've been grown up by local nurseries, mostly small understorey species [plants located between the forest canopy and forest floor]...and a couple of feature trees, [like] a Kurrajong."

Anna Lindstrand, the director of Potoroo Palace, said the day was a dream come true with two organisations like Potoroo and Landcare collaborating with First Nations kids.

"We want to let [the students] know that this is their country," Ms Lindstrand said.

"The main event is the tree planting where the kids get, you know, dirty, and planting to learn about the plants and how to plant them, and hopefully inspire them to plant more trees.

"And Chris is here to talk about the plants, how we can use them and farm them."

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