Swamp Preservation at Mount Compas Area School

Mount Compass Area School is home to a real, damp, peaty swamp, where students act as dedicated swamp stewards, engaging in hands-on learning. With support from the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board’s Grassroots Grants program, the school has expanded its swamp revegetation efforts and acquired essential water testing kits and equipment.

The ‘Mount Compass Area School Swamp’ is part of the critically endangered Fleurieu Swamps network. The swamps hold significant cultural and ecological values, supporting hundreds of species of plants and animals, many of which are nationally threatened and found nowhere else.

The Fleurieu Swamps once spanned 2,000 hectares. Less than half of these swamps remain today, and they are highly fragmented and degraded due to vegetation clearance, reclamation, and weed invasion.

In this video, learn more about the school’s work to care for the swamp, the incredible biodiversity supported by these swamps, the threats they face, and how they are actively managed.