A community turnout of over 80 people strong, made quick work of planting 1000 native seedlings in just over an hour at GeoCatch’s planting day at Holgate Rd, Broadwater on Sunday.
Geared with gloves, trowels, mallets and trays of seedlings, the tree planters set about with gusto getting the new seedlings in the ground, which will grow into much-needed habitat for our native wildlife, especially the critically endangered Western ringtail possum.
They also placed biodegradable tree guards around the plants to protect against harsh weather conditions.
GeoCatch natural resource management officer, Nicole Lincoln, said it was fantastic to see people of all ages showing up to help plant and give back to the natural environment.
“Restoring coastal habitat makes all the difference to our wildlife and educates the younger generations about the environment while they are having fun learning how to plant trees,” said Nicole. “Thank you so much to our local community who generously gave up their Sunday morning to come and plant seedlings.”
This year’s planting extended on the area covered last year at Holgate Rd, where local schools also helped out, reconnecting more of the fragmented habitat along the Busselton foreshore.
A thick layer of mulch donated by Norcape Tree Service will be spread around plants in coming weeks by the Bunbury Pre-Release Prison Crew, giving seedlings provided by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State Natural Resource Management Program their best chance of survival.
Thanks to support from Busselton Water, in summer the seedlings will be watered to help them through the warmer months after they have established some roots in the sandy foreshore soils during the winter rains.
