We need you! Community planting event: National Tree Day 30 July 2023

Posted on 3 July, 2023 by Ivan

We did it! We raised enough funds for our Community Planting Event to go ahead! We are now inviting our community to a Family Planting Celebration on National Tree Day on Sunday 30th July 10am – 12noon.

We are partnering with Mount Alexander Shire Council, Post Office Hill Action Group, Mount Alexander Youth Group and Birdlife Castlemaine to deliver the National Tree Day event. The day is open to all ages and will include planting indigenous plants for habitat and interactive activities to learn about our local landscape including bird spotting, scavenger hunts and kids craft.

The tree planting event is answering a call from the younger generations of our community who, in a recent Council survey, asked for more opportunities to plant trees, make homes for wildlife and to undertake practical actions to address climate change.

A big THANK YOU to our generous members, supporters and the broader community who supported our ‘Trees for the next generation’ campaign to make this happen.

Photo by John Ellis

We need you!

Now that we have the local indigenous plants ordered and on their way, along with tree guards, we need your help to plant them into the degraded bushland in Chewton VIC. The planting event is open to all ages, and is a chance to take action to address climate change and restore habitat for our wildlife.

Let’s work together to protect and restore our local biodiversity and nurture the land for our future generations!

When: Sunday 30 July, 10am to 12pm

Where: Railway Street, Chewton VIC (Post Office Hill, Chewton)

What to bring: All ages are welcome, with a supervising adult. Bring water, suitable clothes for cold weather and the desire to regenerate our bushland. We will provide a light lunch following the planting day.

Photo credit: John Ellis

All plants purchased using from our fundraiser have been sourced be from local nurseries that specialise in indigenous plants to this region. This is vital to ensure plants are adapted to local conditions, support local wildlife whilst supporting local businesses. Experienced volunteers from Landcare will be supporting the planting, making this an effective and highly efficient project.

Photo Credit: Leonie van Eyk

The background story: Degraded bushland

The Mount Alexander region of central Victoria has a long history of removing native vegetation for gold mining, agriculture, and timber and firewood harvesting, leading to many areas of degraded bushland, with little understory, or suitable habitat. In Australia, it can take hundreds of years for trees to form natural hollows. Due to the profound environmental change caused by European colonisation and the gold rush, many trees in our region are still young and have little understory or ground cover. Connecting Country has nearly two decades of experience in restoring these landscapes, and will oversee the event, to ensure the maximum benefit for our local wildlife and community.