Eyre Peninsula Yellow-Tailed Black CockatooThis morning we met a student from the Port Lincoln High School, Ashleigh Docking, who has produced a really interesting report as part of her assessment for Year 12 Geography.
Her report, "With the Management of the Aleppo Pine the Sustainability of the Eyre Peninsula Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo will be ensured", gave evidence of the decline of the local bird, especially after the 2005 Eyre Peninsula bushfires.
Ashleigh found that the Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo has adopted the Aleppo Pine as a food source. The problem is that the Aleppo Pine is regarded as a weed and is currently being eradicated on the Eyre Peninsula.
Her solution is to ask local farmers to sell a small amount of land to the government which would be set aside to plant an orchard of managed Aleppo Pine, thus providing the birds with a permanent food source.
She has already garnered support from some of the farmers around her town of Koppio.
We were very impressed with Ashleigh and her report - and we wish her all the best for her Year 12 studies.