Thanks to the kindness of Alpine Valley Getaways (Victoria) 180 native trees have been planted to help restore our precious green-scape. The team at Alpine Valley Getaways have been finding accommodation for individuals, families, and groups for over 15 years, plus giving advice of where to explore, in the Bright, Harrietville, Porepunkah and Wandiligong regions of the Victorian high-country.

Their backyard consists of sweeping mountainous views, incredible terrain with walking tracks galore, is a real favourite for adventure seekers, or for those who love interiors to snuggle up with a book overseeing a majestic view and totally unwind. It is a well frequented spot for bike riders and hikers too.

Alpine Valley Getaways is a small business providing holiday accommodation in the stunning Alpine Valleys of North East Victoria. Our office is situated in beautiful Bright and we comprise a small team of passionate locals, who pride ourselves on offering the highest level of customer service and care combined with a personalised approach, with the aim of finding the perfect accommodation to suit each person’s needs and expectations when they visit our stunning region.

We love what we do, and love where we live and in this changing climate, we know too well what is at stake if we do not do our best as a business to practice exceptional sustainability measures. We are striving to overhaul as many aspects of our business as possible to be more sustainable. We want to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to working sustainably. We feel that reducing our carbon footprint is one more measure we can take to be better, do better!

We love that we can see where our trees have been planted and hear the stories of those that plant them on our behalf, we love that our guests can see that they are also contributing to this cause, and we love that Fifteen Trees are another small business in regional Victoria who love what they do and are striving to do the best for their customers and the environment!

We look forward to walking a little lighter on this one planet we all share.

Anna McInerney | Manager | Alpine Valley Getaway

We recently planted 180 native trees at Western Port, VIC on the behalf of Alpine Valley Getaways with Western Port Biosphere Foundation (WPBF). The Foundation aims at achieving sustainable development goals in the UNESCO listed, Biosphere Reserve which encompasses both the Mornington Peninsula and the Western Port coastline. 

The project by Western Port Biosphere is divided into four key components;

• Native population surveys and research,
• Revegetation, 
• Outreach and
• Education and stakeholder liaison. 

Each of these elements plays a vital role in achieving their mission to enhance the genetic diversity of koalas in the Biosphere Reserve. They are also focused on creating more and safer dispersal routes for all wildlife. This is being accomplished through a comprehensive habitat restoration program, designed to enrich and reconnect habitats across both private and public lands. 

The trees were planted at Cannons Creek, on Bunurong Land and consisted of a mixture of Manna Gums, Swamp Gums, Peppermints, Wattles, She-Oaks, Dogwood, Melaleuca and Lomandra.

We would like to thank Alpine Valley Getaways for the funding we received for 180 plants. The money enables us to reach out to our network and community to distribute important habitat to support the restoration and protection of the Western Port Biosphere Reserve’s natural ecology.

From schools to landowners wanting to create wildlife corridors to connect remnant vegetation, or to restore the health of their bushland, dams, and waterways, the plants we can provide go a long way to helping to repair degraded land across the Reserve. Many thanks for supporting the work that we do.

Lucy Kyriacou | Project Manager | Western Port Biosphere Foundation

Throughout Western Port, WPBF are conducting tree planting, school visits, and koala surveys. The revegetation efforts primarily take place during the cooler, wetter months, while surveys are conducted in the spring and summer when koalas are most active. 

Alpine peaks, river valleys and high and low plains – our country needs trees – Alpine Valley Getaways know this all too well, which makes their pledge to purchase trees for our community revegetation projects every quarter, even more sweet.

If you would like to know more about sponsoring community tree planting projects and how we can assist you in becoming a more sustainable business, please contact Colleen at <[email protected]>.

Writer – Lou Ridsdale

Lou a green thumb, Earth Lover, big-hearted nature freak, plus a savvy media and horticulture expert, who passionately believe that everyone can lead a more nourishing and sustainable life. Lou founded Food Is Free Inc., a unique grassroots food security platform specialising in food security education. You can find Lou here