We fell in love with the cheeky Black Cockatoos of WA via the Instagram photos of the Kaarakin Black Cockatoo Conservation Centre. How could we resist their call out for funds for habitat trees for these iconic Australian birds.
Image by Kaarakin
Gumnuts for Zanda Project is a small effort to combat the ongoing clearing of black cockatoo habitat in the Perth Environs. Loss of roosting and food trees is the cause of declining populations of Carnaby’s, Baudin’s and Forest Red Tail black cockatoos; all of whom are threatened with extinction.
Funded by the National Resource Management (NRM) 2 hectares of previous disused orchard was cleared, fenced and tilled to provide excellent planting conditions for native seedlings. This July, over 3000 black cockatoo food plants were planted by over 100 volunteers of all ages. Seedlings were generously supplied by sponsors including Fifteen Trees. In 20 years, these seedlings will have matured into food and roosting habitat, contributing to the survival of these magnificent birds.
Cathy Burns| Donation Coordinator | Black Cockatoo Preservation Society | Save the Black Cockatoo Trust Fund
Host of volunteers
Fifteen Trees would like to acknowledge these individuals who have all contributed trees to Cathy and her team of volunteers. Thank you to Richarda for purchasing 90 trees in memory of her father Andy, who was a long time member of Landcare. Thank you to Brendon Doyle and Eunice Goodberg who purchased 68 trees to reduce the carbon footprint of their recent flights to Europe. Thank you to Jeroen Vis for his 60 trees and to Sarah Hayes for 45 trees. And thank you to Briony Whitton, from Perth who purchased 15 trees.
And finally thank you to Elise Dunstan. On Sunday 2 June, Elise ran a PermE Play* workshop at the Alphington Farmer’s Market to help celebrate the Melbourne Food Hub Open Day. From all accounts, it was a great success with 30 primary aged children participating in the workshop alongside many adults! They learnt how to give tins another life by repurposing wrapping paper and ribbons to decorate them, creating lovely looking succulent tins to keep or gift. Participants were asked to donate a gold coin to help fundraise for Fifteen Trees, and Elise was very excited to report this workshop raised $72 which enabled them to purchase 15 trees towards this project.
*PermE Play is a nod to the ethics of Permaculture. The workshops are intended to connect community, encourage participants to slow-down, craft, create and learn how to adopt and apply the Permaculture principles to daily life.
All up we were able to contribute the funds for 300 trees.
Big love to everyone who contributed. As you can see your trees went to a fabulous group in WA. We are still looking for trees for other projects. Most pressing at the moment is a project in the Grampians Region of Victoria, where we are looking to plant habitat trees for the Swift Parrot. Another native bird struggling with loss of habitat. You can purchase trees here.
‘Sometimes there are really simple things everyone can do to reduce their carbon footprint. When staying at a hotel, choosing to skip the room cleaning and having a tree planted instead, is one of those things’. Hugo from Hotels for Trees.
‘We’re thrilled to team up with Fifteen Trees in this crucial effort. Koalas are an iconic Australian species, and with increasing threats to their natural environment, it’s never been more important to ensure they have access to suitable habitats.Planting these trees is just the beginning of a broader initiative to safeguard their future’. Ballarat Wildlife Park
According to Sustainability Victoria, the average Australian lifestyle produces 15,000kg of carbon per year. If that sounds like a lot, it is! Over its lifetime, a tree can collect and store 268kg. This means, we each need to plant 58 trees per year to bring our individual carbon production down to zero. A little tricky for most of us to do in our own backyards, and this is where ‘A Subscription for the Planet’ comes in.
