When asked by Jane Goodall to write a book about the Murray-Darling Basin, Adrian Wells and Owen Dunlop jumped at the chance.
“Owen Dunlop and I were quite happy to write the book because we run workshops all along the Murray River. We’ve taken students on tours all across the area,” Mr Wells said.
“But to have actually something in a book like this, no-one had ever found one ... we believe this is the first time that this information has been put into one single book.”
Mr Wells said The Rivers and Wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin is a great chance for children to learn about the environment in a positive way.
“There’s a whole lot of good stuff we often don’t hear about,” he said.
“Some of it’s only simple, like schools doing water testing or improving water quality, learning about our wildlife, visiting and talking with elders. We look at positive stuff that never gets into the media.”
After all, the Murray-Darling Basin may not be home to the world’s most famous species but they are still important ones.
“We actually have animals and plants and even forests that are in danger of becoming extinct if we don't look after them,” he said.
“When David Attenborough ... was asked to invest money in his top 10 animals or plants to make sure they survived he didn't mention whale tigers ... he mentioned very small insects, very small animals and very tiny fish.”
Mr Wells said children in the area were lucky to have the Murray-Darling Basin so close to them.
“They've got a living laboratory right outside their door, so they don’t have to go very far to be able to see and experience these things,” he said.
Four thousand books have been distributed to schools across Australia with an additional 100 donated to local libraries.