My Wild Farm

For hundreds of years, people right across the world have been clearing forests to make room for grasslands. These grasslands are used for all sorts of farming and bring food to millions of people. However, this clearing has also caused many problems for our world. Flooding, desertification, and soil loss are some of the consequences. People are now starting to realise how important our forests are for the health and sustainability of our planet.

This is a story about one farm that was slowly changing back to a forest. It starts with the arrival of wildlife of all sorts from kangaroos and wallabies to possums, quolls, eagles, birds, and little marsupials. The grasslands have trees starting to appear and the forest canopy starts to close over the grasses. The process is now part of a worldwide discussion to 'rewild' abandoned farmlands and disrupted landscapes. Rewilding is one cog in a carbon-neutral future by providing an enormous opportunity to store atmospheric carbon.

The story is provided primarily as a literacy exercise but secondly, as a means of a topic of discussion in science classes on the environment and how remediation is working to improve the planet.

Suitable for primary and lower secondary classes of all ages.