Massive Family Fun Day Line-up at NT Native Eco-Fair & Plant Sale

Clear your calendar on Saturday 20 July and come out for a FREE fun-filled day of nature-based learning and adventure!

Landcare NT, City of Darwin and Territory Native Plants present a rare opportunity to engage with community experts, horticulturalists, botanists and native plant lovers.

Set in the beautifully biodiverse Jingili Water Gardens, a packed program - including speakers’ corner, guided nature walks and kids’ activities - promises fun-filled nature-based experiences for the whole family:

• cultivate knowledge through engaging presentations on planting, mulching and irrigation
• learn about biodiversity on the guided native plant walks
• inspire your kids with exciting activities designed to encourage a love for nature and learning

Get up close for a chat with writer, researcher and botanical consultant John Brock. His book Native plants of Northern Australia is a beautifully illustrated guide to the flora of the region from the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It describes 450species in major plant communities,and includes distribution maps and information about Aboriginal plant usage. John will be leading the Speakers’ Corner with a talk on Getting to Know Your Garden at 9:00am.

There will be lots of opportunity to put his advice into action with over 2500 native plants for sale across 120 species. You can take home your own piece of the Top End and watch it flourish in your garden!

Biodiversity supports everything in nature that we need to survive, so the guided walks and speakers’ corner talks throughout the day are the perfect opportunity to learn more:

• about the things that crawl, fly and slither around your backyard
• about identifying and understanding native plants, as well as exploring their Indigenous cultural uses

• about free home garden consults, cooling and greening Darwin,
• about the Darwin Harbour waterways project and community landcare activities

But WAIT…there’s more in Kids Korner!

Eco-hero, Gareth the Grevillea makes his first appearance in Darwin leading the kids (and any interested parents) on the Detective Quiz journey. This supervised journey for school aged children will take them through the Jingili Water Gardens - meeting authors, botanists, ecologists, Larrakia Guides and local leaders in STEM … AND … native bees, birds, butterflies and bugs along the way!

Using the clues (and lots of microscopes!) community experts guide kids learning about Top End biodiversity and the interconnections between flora, fauna and habitat. Prizes include Eco-Fair gift packs, a free Gareth Grevillea to take home to your garden - and all entrants go in the draw for a Family Pass to the Territory Wildlife Park.

If you’re too young for this, then we have you covered with an interactive puppet show, craft activities and storytelling by local authors Di Lucas – Spines in the Sand - and Sarah Sutcliff – No Stings Attached.

Get ready to connect with nature, experts, and your community. Bring your plants (or weeds!) for professional identification and advice, and join us for this massive line-up of fun and informative family activities.

When: Saturday, July 20th, 9am-3pm

Where: Jingili Water Gardens, Freshwater Road

Learn more about the event here or follow the event on Facebook.