FUTURE leaders of the Jimboomba community are investigating the impact of population growth and pollution on Logan’s rural south-west.
Year eight Emmaus College Geography, English and Civics students are collecting survey data to learn where the community stands on a range of environmental issues over the next two weeks.
The survey covers topics including population growth, land clearing, landfill and waste, recycling, native habitats, above ground power lines, dwindling animal species, air pollution, water pollution, litter and industrial waste.
Emmaus College humanities teacher Robyn Coase said students would write feature articles identifying environmental problems and how to tackle them.
“A lot of people are concerned about land clearing and development because people are used to their rural lifestyles, Ms Coase said.
“We will be able to see how many people value recycling and the impact of invasive species in the area.
“The (survey) data will be used to create graphs to put into articles which will be shown to the public.”
Year eight student Candice Cousins lives at Yarrabilba and is studying the impact of land clearing and deforestation.
Ms Cousins said she lived in the area her entire life and was sad to see the erosion of the quiet rural lifestyle of the past.
“The roads really upset me. On Waterford Tamborine Road there are always road works and you always see dead kangaroos,” she said.
“We used to have kangaroos and lizards in our backyards but there is nothing there anymore because the bushland has gone.
“(Governments) should keep rural places rural because people come to the countryside to get away.
“There is not much we can do about it because the population is growing, but we should have more protected areas to keep our wildlife alive.”
Year eight student Charlotte Brown said she was investigating the impact of pollution.
“It has a major affect on the ecosystem we live in,” she said.
“The pollution does not just affect the land and animals. It also affects us.”
The survey has been conducted by Emmaus College for the past three years.
There were 500 responses to the survey in 2017.
People are encouraged to have their say on the survey by following the link.
All answers will be anonymous.
The initiative was launched on July 24 and will run for at least two weeks.
