On a mild Melbourne winter’s day (the kind of day that makes you glad you left the office) the team from AIA Australia headed to the base of the Westgate Bridge for a tree planting morning with Fifteen Trees and volunteers from Westgate Biodiversity.

Westgate Biodiversity is a not-for-profit organisation quietly planting out  the area under the bridge – restoring a once degraded and industrial site into a thriving pocket of native bushland. A green escape for people, and a genuine sanctuary for wildlife, right in the heart of Melbourne’s west.

The volunteer group is driven by a community of volunteers who not only restore Westgate Park but also grow and sell locally indigenous plants to home gardeners, schools and revegetation projects across the region.

AIA Australia knows the importance of increasing green spaces in urban environments. Green spaces have been shown to be associated with better health outcomes and reduced mortality (The Environment and our Health). The opportunity to work with Fifteen Trees to support biodiversity planting at Westgate Park as part of our employee volunteering day contributes to our purpose of sustaining healthier, longer, better lives.

Rebecca Gunn | Senior Manager Sustainability | AIS Australia. 

On the day, AIA Australia helped plant an impressive range of native trees, shrubs and grasses including Heath, Golden, Lightwood and Coastal varieties, Black, Swamp and Green sheoaks, Grey and Marsh saltbushes and White, Smooth and Common correas.

It’s a deliberately diverse mix, and that diversity is the whole point. As each species flowers and fruits at different times throughout the year, the park will offer a continuous supply of food and shelter for local wildlife. . This is ecosystem restoration in action, helping to rebuild a biodiversity corridor in the middle of one of Australia’s biggest cities, and restoring native forests to a landscape that lost them long ago.

For AIA Australia, this planting day is part of a genuine commitment to reducing their carbon footprint and supporting community tree planting projects. Working together the team planted 240 plants. Not a bad effort for a winter’s morning in Melbourne.

Writer: Colleen B. Filippa

With a background in Environmental Science (Melbourne Uni), Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in 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.