‘Tis the season to be planting trees

Home 🞂 Newsroom 🞂 ‘Tis the season to be planting trees

Have you helped out at one of the many community planting days that have taken place across the region lately? If not, you’re missing out on a whole lot of fun, including getting outdoors, being emerged in community spirit, and helping to restore our local natural environment.

The tree planting days are usually led by one of the many volunteer community groups from across our region who are working to revegetate and care for the land and coastlines on their patch.

This year celebrates 20 years of National Tree Day – an initiative from Planet Ark which started in 1996. The Tree Day is an opportunity for community groups and local schools to do something positive for their local environment and community and to reconnect with the nature and give back to the local community in a meaningful way.

In the spirit of celebrating 20 years of National Tree Day’s, the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council supported eight groups including the City of the Great Geraldton to run a series of tree planting days across the region.

The City of Greater Geraldton has already successfully completed seven tree planting events over the past three weeks – with more still to come – with an aim of planting more than 25,000 seedlings this winter.

“We could not have asked for better weather conditions for our community planting days at various sites,” said Megan O’Grady CGG Environmental Planning Officer. We had a great turnout with a whopping 200 community members at our seven events, and plenty of new faces.”

“An amazing total of 3,375 native and local provenance seedlings were planted, all of which had been grown in the community nursery” she said.

 

“Our nation is facing a lot of challenges – from habitat loss and climate change to land degradation problems – and so, by planting trees in our local environment, we can not only help provide habitat and groundcover, and reduce the impact of climate change, but also help people to connect with nature, and each other, and have fun,” said Stanley Yokwe NACC Regional Landcare Facilitator.

There are more tree planting days still to come. So, please keep an eye on NACC’s events calendar over the next month to find out when the next community planting day is scheduled near you.

The City of Greater Geraldton tree planting events have been supported by NACC through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Facilitator as part of the Regional Landcare Facilitator project. Other funding contributions come from the CGG’s 20 Million Trees and the State NRM Program.

Other partners involve in delivering these events include Leaning Tree Community School, Geraldton Flexible Learning, NAGLE College, ILUKA, Cummins, NACC, Chapman River Friends, Department of Park and Wildlife, Department of Water, Batavia Coast Maritime Institute, CGG’s Green Army project, Meedac & Skill hire (Work for the Dole Teams), and Greenough Prison.

The City of Greater Geraldton and NACC team thank all the individuals and partner organisations for their support in making tree planting days successful.

Birds eye view of the planting day at Champan River Regional Park. Photo credit: Micha Fuhrmann
Birds eye view of the planting day at Champan River Regional Park. Photo credit: Micha Fuhrmann

 

 

 

 

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In 2020-21 I talked about ‘raising the bar’. In 2021-22 we worked on setting the bar on fire. Over the last 12 months, the team at NACC NRM has not stopped.

The Sustainable Agriculture team has extended the program’s reach through collaborations with grower groups in the regions. Specifically, the Beyond Reasonable Drought project and Grower Group Alliance – South West WA Drought Innovation Hub – Geraldton Node project. The Beyond Reasonable Drought partnership with grower groups supported farmers across the region to improve the environmental sustainability of their agricultural production and drought resilience. The outcomes of this project have been consolidated through our successful Expression of Interest to the South West WA Drought Innovation Hub, with support from grower groups across the region, to host the Geraldton Node of the Hub. The program continues to focus on working with agricultural networks to share technical expertise and provide opportunities that will improve land management practices in agriculture across the region.

The conservation outcomes of ranger teams have expanded through work on several land tenures. Maintaining Heritage sites such as Willi Gulli, Racecourse Paddock and Buller River has long been a priority. During 2021-22, the teams have increasingly focused on threatened species and ecosystems.

To this end, Western Mulga rangers have improved management across 19,000 ha for the conservation of Malleefowl through firebreak and access management. They completed the maintenance of water holes and supported the monitoring of over 90 Malleefowl mounds.

Similarly, the Kwelena Mambakort Aboriginal Corporate ranger team have contributed positively to Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo populations by installing artificial hollows and habitat restoration.

All ranger teams have collected native seed, propagated native plants for restoration, and planted native vegetation in key locations across the NAR. Seed collection provides valuable industry experience and has facilitated the planting of over 100,000 seedlings during the year.   

In September 2021, the NACC NRM team delivered the WA Threatened Species Forum, held in tandem with the National Malleefowl Forum. Given the impact of COVID and the timing of this event, having more than 100 delegates from all over Australia was a significant achievement. The two Forums brought together 12 events over five days and featured 14 local artists, 25 businesses and 36 youth participants.

Following the successful relaunch of our updated NARvis, NACC NRM was invited to help lead a significant piece of strategic planning work for the region with Mid West Development Commission and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. With funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, the consortia delivered a Regional Drought Resilience Plan covering the shires of Northampton and Chapman Valley and the City of Greater Geraldton, along with significant technical analysis of drought vulnerability for the South West land division. The development of this plan also included extensive community consultation to ensure that local knowledge and technical advice guided the development of priorities for action.

This planning work links to existing NACC NRM on-ground projects, including Beyond Reasonable Drought and the Chapman Catchment Collaborative regeneration project.

It was a busy year for events with face-to-face events becoming commonplace again. During 2021-22 we hosted events in Gingin, Moora, Dalwallinu, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, Walkaway, Nabawa, Perenjori, Kalannie and Morawa. We supported events in Karakin, Thundellara, Perenjori, Paynes Find, Wubin, Cataby, Warradarge, Northampton, Yuna, Dalwallinu and Dandaragan.

We also supported on-ground works throughout the region, including at the following locations Yuna, Dalwallinu, Dandaragan, Merkanooka, Goodlands, Kalannie, Bunjil, Yardarino, Canna, Kondut, Latham, Kadathinni, Nabawa, Red Gully, Sandy Gully, Waddy Forrest, Devils Creek, Perenjori, Bowgada, Ellendale, Wandana, Namban, Hill River, Warradarge, Gillingarra, Regans Ford and Moonyanooka.

Our region is vast – slightly larger than Tasmania, which for comparison, is serviced by three separate NRM organisations. Covering the NAR region and its many environmental threats is challenging. We continue to focus on partnerships and collaboration to address this challenge. We know that by working with our community through passionate delivery of collaborative on-ground projects and education, the community will value and actively protect our region’s natural capital.

This year we have launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The RAP Working Group consulted widely and developed an Innovate RAP which Reconciliation Australia approved in March 2022. The activities to fulfil these commitments are now in full swing.

Sadly, at the end of 2021, we farewelled former NACC NRM CEO Shelley Spriggs, who lost a long battle with cancer. Shelley was an inaugural inductee to the NRM Leadership Honour Roll. I will always be grateful for her guidance and no-nonsense approach, not to mention her passion for life.

While we have said farewell to some, we have welcomed many new faces across all programs, including our Administration team. We have also hosted a school-based trainee from Nagle Catholic College who has been working towards a Certificate II in Conservation and Ecosystem Management. This trial position has been very successful, and we look forward to making this opportunity available again in 2023.

During 2022 we have taken on new projects that align with our organisational and program objectives, and we have successfully completed some great initiatives that support continued conservation and sustainability outcomes. I want to thank the whole team who continue to go above and beyond for the organisation and each other proving their ongoing commitment to our purpose and our values.