Dear Friends of Fifteen Trees,

We have proudly put this report together for you and want to thank each and every subscriber for your generous support.

This year, we have been able to offer 9 community groups (from WA, SA, VIC and NSW) 5,880 native trees (shrubs and grasses) for their revegetation projects.

Collectively, we are contributing to the restoration of our Australian ecosystems!

Colleen Filippa | Founding Director | Fifteen Trees

Thank you to all our wonderful supporters (98) …

Mik Aidt, Deborah Bourke, Dana Bretag, Sandra Briody, Jenn Clark, Amanda Gambino, Rose Harrison, Rosie Hunt-Walshe, Andrea Hurley, Jacob Johnston, Sean Keniry, Sara Kittelty, Jill Clarke & Paul Duggan, Rosalind Read, Annabel Ritchie, Lynn Teale, Mary Wade, Lorena Wootton, Rae Knowler, Bette Schwarz, Caitlyn Jordan, Sonja Meyer, Georgina Imberger, Carole Felmy, Fiona Leahy & Antony Swingler, Sandra Hawkins, Christopher Hawkins, James Hosking, Marian Turner, Nyree Windsor, Glenys Grigg, Lucy Bracey, Sarah Hart, Eliza-Jane Gilchrist, Fiona Baxter, Corinna  Klupiec, Jess Tatham-Thompson, Heather Charlesworth, Sean Werth, Martine Stoll, Bronwen James, Sharon Chan, David & Karen Dawson, Michael Nicols, Keitha Theodore, Julie Atkinson, Natasha Ludowyk, Belinda Coates, Joanna Cosgriff, Lena Mazza, Andrew Griffiths, Jen Askham, Anthony & Catherine Clifford, Elsa Lynn, Samantha Little, Marji Puotinen, Gerri Savage, Matthew Stevens, Esther Cantwell, Susan & Darryl Murray, Ellen Burns, Bree Webster, Liam Derby, Sara Melvin, Helen Browitt, Fern Hames, Daniel Cocking, Cait Larcombe, Swell Magazine, Anthony (AJ) Sleeman, Denise McAloon, Erin Lee, Sam Munday, Suzannah Morrison, Russell  Baker, Moria Finucane, Carla Bergen, Jonny Fenderson, Sue Giles, Michelle Lilley, Helen Pritchard, Lesley Jones, Ian Heriot, Eliza McDonald, Natalie Marshall, Liz McLean, Chloe Bond, Daniel Riddiford-Lajoie, Liz Stephen, Heidi Fog, Mimosa Schmidt, Catherine Wilson and Costa Georgiadis.

Planting sites

1. Queanbeyan, NSW | 1,000 trees
2. Mornington Peninsula, VIC | 2,000 trees
3. Brisbane Ranges, VIC | 200 trees
4. Murrayville, VIC | 90 trees
5. Merri Creek, VIC | 500 trees
6. Mount Coal, VIC | 500 trees
7. Bacchus Marsh, VIC | 370 trees
8. Esperance, WA | 1,000 trees
9. Victor Harbour, SA | 220 trees

Site 1 | Queanbeyan, NSW | 1,000 trees

 The trees planted were a mixture of Yellow Box, Red Box, Scribbly Gum, Apple Box, Black Wattle, River Bottle Brush and Boxleaf Wattle. These trees will grow to provide both large tree canopy and understory links from the native vegetation reserves on the nearby road corridor.

Thank you for the wonderful support that has given me the motivation to increase the vegetation on my property. I’m confident that with care, these plantings will positively impact our environment and be there for the next generation to enjoy.

Sanders | Member | Queanbeyan Landcare

Site 2 | Mornington Peninsula (Bunurong) VIC | 2,000 trees

Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation (MPKC), is a group dedicated to creating a koala wildlife corridor (connecting existing sections of koala habitat and food trees) on the Mornington Peninsula. This involves planting in the existing koala corridors, thereby encouraging koalas out of urban areas and away from the many threats they face.

To achieve our goals, we need funding to purchase trees for the wildlife corridors. All money received goes directly towards bringing our projects and goals to life. Thank you to all the members of ‘A Subscription for the Planet’ for your contribution towards our revegetation projects.

Dirk Jensan | Coordinator | MPKC

Some of the trees planted included native species such as; Drooping Sheoak, Coastal Banksia, Messmate, Swamp Gum, Coastal Manna Gum, Narrow-leafed Peppermint, Black Wattle, Blackwood, Scented and Swamp Paperbark and Silky Hakea.

Site 3 | Brisbane Ranges (Wadawurrung) VIC | 200 trees

Brisbane Ranges Landcare Group (BRLG) planted the trees at the Triangle Community Common in the Brisbane Ranges, Wadawurrung Country, over the course of the winter and spring. The types of trees included; Hedge wattle, Drooping sheoak, Silver banksia, Sweet bursaria, Hopbush, River red gum, Yellow gum, Grey box, Messmate, Red box, Manna gum, Prickly tea-tree and Bushy needlewood. This area is well know for its dominant species of yellow gum and red box.

These trees will improve habitat and the revegetation efforts at the Triangle Community Common. Koalas, echidnas, kangaroos and wallabies all visit the site, and the new vegetation will provide protection, homes and food for them.

The Brisbane Ranges Landcare Group thoroughly appreciates the support of Fifteen Trees.  In addition, our annual plantings at the Triangle Reserve are helping to establish a beautiful and beneficial community reserve that will be used and treasured for generations.

Robert Hall | President | Brisbane Ranges Landcare Group

Site 4 | Murrayville (Latji Latji), VIC | 90 trees

The trees were planted at Murrayville, on Latji Latji land by the Murrayville Landcare Group at the local cemetery. A mixture of plants included various species of  bottlebrushes, wattles and eucalyptus.

A big thank you from the Murrayville Landcare Group and the Murrayville Cemetery Committee for the generous funding provided, to allow us to plant 90 trees at the local cemetery. It was a beautiful morning and the ground was damp after the weeks rain, prefect for tree planting.

Fiona Willersdorf | Facilitator | Murrayville Landcare Group

Site 5 | Merri Creek (Wurundjeri-Willam), VIC | 500 trees

The trees were planted by the Upper Plenty Merri Catchment Landcare Group (UPMCLG) to revegetate farmland and waterways, as well as to enhance and provide important habitat and corridors for native wildlife. The trees were a mixture of Eucalyptus (Swamp Gum, Candlebark), Acacias (Silver Wattle, Hedge Wattle), Black She-oaks, Banksias, Sweet Bursarias, Tea-trees and Honey-myrtles.

Site 6 | Mount Cole (Bereep-Bereep), VIC | 500 trees

The site is on the foothills of Mount Cole, home to the Beeripmo balug tribe that form part of the larger Djab Wurrung language-speaking people. The trees were a mixture of River sheoak, Swamp gum, Red river gum, Blackwood, Red ironbark, Yellow box, Red box, Ovens wattle, Golden wattle, Cootamundra wattle. These trees will complement the original vegetation of stringybarks (messmate and red), Manna gum, Yellow box, Blackwood and Black wattle.

The planting will help reduce erosion along the gullies, provide habitat for wildlife and fodder for pollinators.

The area is alive with native bird such as: Wedge tailed eagles, Australian wood ducks, White-faced heron, White-necked heron, Australian white ibis, Yellow-tailed black cockatoo, Galah, Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Crimson rosella, Tawny frogmouth, Laughing kookaburra, Welcome swallow, Flame robin, Superb fairy-wren, Red-browed finch, White-winged chough, Australian magpie, and Australian raven. Wildlife that visit the area includes: Eastern grey kangaroo, Echidna, Black wallaby, Brushtail possum, Sugar glider, Stumpy tail lizard, Eastern brown snake, Tiger snake, and many kinds of frogs (including Banjo frogs).

Thank you very much for your contribution. We’ve been planting trees on this site every year for the past 7 years, and we can see how big of a difference it makes. More wildlife is coming back every year. The trees are really bring life back to the land.

Audrey Thomas | Member | Pyrenees Shire

Site 7 | Bacchus Marsh (Wadawurrung), VIC | 370 trees

The planting site for these trees was on the Werribee River at Ballan, VIC (Wadawurrung country). This is an important site in the landscape, with the Werribee River marking the northern boundary. This project will improve connectivity through the site, connecting habitat in the rail reserve at the south of the site to the escarpment planting in the north.

Thirty-two (32) species of plants ranging from herbs and grasses through to large trees were planted. Some of the species included: kangaroo grass, chocolate lily, rock correa, golden wattle, black wattle and manna gum.

This site sits within an Ecological Vegetation Class called Grassy Woodland of the Victorian Volcanic Plain Bioregion. The conservation status of the vegetation community along this whole corridor is endangered, (even though some species are common). This work helps to improve the habitat value of this significant river link through the landscape.

The iconic Platypus is regularly seen in this stretch of the river and gliding above the majestic Wedge-tailed Eagles can be spotted.

The Upper Werribee Catchment Group would like to thank the sponsors of Fifteen Trees that finance the seedlings for projects like ours. Without your support, we wouldn’t be able to have the significant impacts that we do in connecting habitat throughout the upper Werribee catchment.

Lindy MacRaid | Coordinator | Upper Werribee Catchment Group

Site 8 | Esperance, WA | 1,000 trees

Over the course of the winter, at Esperance Kea Kurl Boodja Country, home of the Wudjari People, 1,000 native trees were planted with a group of community members from Active Tree Planting Group. This group led a community tree planting event for the district with the aim to restore a significant size of land back to its original vegetation. The site is directly adjacent to the Dalyup Creek, a degraded water resource in much need of attention.

The trees planted will form an integral feature of the landscape, providing a microclimate for shrubs, grasses and sedges to grow in the strata below their canopy. One tree species that is important to the area is Eucalyptus occidentalis, or Yate. Numerous Yate trees were planted as part of this project. The Yate is a deep-rooted tall tree that assists in salinisation remediation, i.e. they assist with keeping salt in the deeper layers of the soil. Over time, the new Yate trees will provide habitat for the local fauna, through long term development of hollows, roosting sites and flowers. Yate Swamp are also listed as a Priority Ecological Community under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. Rehabilitating the Yate ecosystem assists in conserving an ecological community identified as under threat.

We learnt that we work hard caring for Country means some part of Country comes with you. Like the dirt under our fingernails and the mud in our shoes, the knots in our hair from the wind, the sun our faces. This helps us feel connected through the physical evidence of our hands in the soil.

Thank you to everyone who purchased trees for this unique and important project.

Amy Steele | Member | Activate Tree Planting

Some of the wildlife that live in this district include tiger snakes, dugites, meeky miners, pink and grey galahs, and kangaroos.

Site 9 | Victor Harbour | 220 trees

This year, we planted our subscribers trees with the newly formed Biodiversity Victor Harbour on the South Coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula in SA on the banks of the Hindmarsh River Estuary. The trees were a mixture of native trees and shrubs such as Kangaroo Thorn, Drooping Sheoak, Gold Dust Wattle, Silver Banksia, Paperbark, Blue Gum and Chaffy Saw Sedge. The plants selected, were chosen to provide feed (flowers and seeds) and protection for the native birds, reptiles, insects and mammals that live in the area.

As the areas planted are public lands, Biodiversity Victor Harbour work closely with the local council in the planning and delivery of the planting projects. In addition to the plantings, both groups are heavily involved in weed management from garden escapees to the wrong species of native species planted in the past.

Part of the program includes replanting of coastal areas between the beach proper and sand dunes to provide shelter and cover for the Hooded Plover during breeding. The Hooded Plover is considered endangered, with eggs and chicks having a low survival success rate from dogs being allowed uncontrolled on beaches and predation from  foxes, feral cats etc.

I am delighted to advise we have lobbied our local council and they have agreed to assist with building a community hub plus work collaboratively with us to expand our activities to influencing domestic and rural property owners to review their properties and adopt planting of local indigenous species, whether as gardens or whole scale biodiversity projects.

Subscribers of the Planet helped with this successful grant, as the Council could see that we already had backers and we were already making a difference in our small part of the world.

Mark Richards | Coordinator | Biodiversity Victor Harbour.

Here’s a link to your trees from 2023, where our hundred subscribers helped us plant 6,000 trees.

A a heartfelt thank you to all our ‘Subscribers for the Planet’.

Writer: Colleen Filippa

With a background in Environmental Science, Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start the company. Fifteen Trees is a social enterprise assisting individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint by supporting community groups such as Landcare, schools and environmental networks.