Another 1000 trees planted!

September 2005, Mt McDonald, planting well underway

On Sunday morning 11 September, staff from DFAT, the Café Brindabella and Greening Australia once again joined forces on Mt McDonald to help the environment and the ACT bushfire recovery. Around 120 DFAT and Café Brindabella staff and their families and friends planted and watered in 1000 native trees, supplied by Greening Australia.

When the volunteers arrived mid-morning the slope was bare and still wearing the scars of the 2003 bushfires. By lunchtime the hillside was transformed. Even the spring weather was unexpectedly kind. Saturday was wet and cool and heavy rain was forecast for Sunday. Yet the morning emerged bright and sunny and the ground was soft and easy to dig. One small enthusiastic DFAT daughter named all the trees she planted. The Brindabella Café and Greening Australia together put on a welcome sausage sizzle for the hungry planters, with the Café organising a mobile barista for those who couldn’t go without their Sunday morning latte. The forecast rain arrived later in the afternoon to reinforce all the careful DFAT hand-watering.

This was another successful event for the environment and ACT bushfire recovery! The environmental partnership between DFAT, Greening Australia and the Café Brindabella has been very productive and has been written into the DFAT EMS. As they mature, the trees we planted will absorb greenhouse gases. They will also help tackle salinity, improve water quality, provide habitat for native species, reduce soil erosion and thus assist in stabilising the Mt McDonald hillside. Further down the track, we’ll be planning more DFAT tree planting events. We encourage you to join in next time. It’s a lot of fun and a great contribution to the environment.

The following trees, all indigenous to the ACT region were planted:

• Acacia dealbata - Silver Wattle
• Acacia falciformis - Broadleaved Hickory
• Acacia rubida - Red Stem Wattle
• Acacia implexa - Hickory Wattle
• Acacia melanoxylon – Blackwood Wattle
• Callitris endlicheri - Black Cypress Pine
• Eucalyptus blakelyi - Red Gum
• Eucalyptus dives - Broadleaved Peppermint Eucalyptus macrorhyncha - Red Stringy Bark Eucalyptus manifera - Brittle Gum
• Eucalyptus meliodora - Yellow Box
• Eucalyptus polyanthamos - Red Box.