Can a 10,000-year-old Wentworth Falls swamp really hold part of the solution to capture carbon in the Blue Mountains? Kindlehill High School students have been learning that it may be part of the solution - and it's just down the end of their street.
Working with education officers from Blue Mountains City Council and with a project sponsored by Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, students have been researching and discovering the importance of the endangered hanging swamp at Wentworth Falls Lake.
Covering a 3,000 square metre steep area adjacent to Banksia Road, these seemingly innocuous treeless wetlands have the important job of filtering and regulating the water that goes into Wentworth Falls lake.
"It was amazing to discover that the hanging swamp holds more water than the lake itself", said Year 10 student, Indigo Rampson.
Not only did students uncover the fact that the swamp regulates the water flow to neighbouring ecosystems, they also learnt how swamps absorb carbon and methane whilst retaining water, which mitigates the impact of climate change.
It also provides the perfect habitat for endangered species such as the giant dragonfly and the Blue Mountains water skink.
Fifteen-year-old Vinnie Rummery said: "It was cool to find out that the swamp is able to regulate the lake in a way that stops it overflowing or prevents it from draining even during droughts or when the RFS used it for water bombing during the fires".
Throughout February, students tested the water, studied quadrats and examined the biodiversity in the hanging swamp and surrounding forest areas. They found them to be healthy, biodiverse and flourishing, discovering juvenile crayfish, dragonfly larvae and caddisflies, species that can only survive in healthy waters.
When asked what most threatened the hanging swamp, 15-year-old Isabel Donoghue said the culprits were contaminated run-off from the street, introduced species and invasive pathways set into the swamp.
