Sunshine Coast scoops Arbor Day awards
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The Queensland Arbor Day awards recognise the achievements of Queenslanders who care for the environment. (ABC News )
The Sunshine Coast has won four awards - including the top prize for the state - in the Queensland Arbor Day awards.
The Palmwoods State School has won the schools category - as well as the Natural Resources Minister's Golden Spade and Shade award - for its environmental regeneration efforts.
Students at the school created an eco-space to encourage the return of native wildlife after being forced to cut down a historic camphor laurel tree for safety reasons.
Awards spokesperson Sarah Bishop from Greening Australia says involving school students in environmental projects increases their appreciation of nature.
"They've created a whole learning area around the remains of this 120-year-old tree which has been sculptured, where the students can actually go out and study and enjoy learning in the outside area under shade," she said.
"It teaches so much more then simply by reading about it or by hearing about it," Ms Bishop said.
The Queensland Folk Federation, which runs the Woodford Folk Festival, won the community group category - as well as the regional award for south-east Queensland - for planting more than 87,000 trees on the site over the past 10 years.
The business development manager Jade Baker says it's a huge honour.
"It was a really wonderful feeling to take out the award," she said.
Ms Baker says an annual planting weekend has been held at the Woodford Folk Festival site for the past 10 years.
"One weekend in the year, people come together and plant native species across the folk festival site," she said.
