Semester One | Gariwerd Grampians National Park | 70 trees

Friends of the Forgotten Woodlands Inc. (FOFW) are a not-for-profit group whose mission is to restore the missing keystone species that were once in abundance across the Victoria Volcanic Plains (VVP), focusing on 3 species (Silver Banksia, Drooping Sheoak and Sweet Bursaria). The VVP stretches from Melbourne to Hamilton. Much of this vegetation was cleared early on by European settlers, which resulted in fragmented remnants (some of which are 100s of kilometres apart) of what was once dense woodlands.

The site where the trees were planted is situated at the south end of Bryans Swamp, nestled in the Victorian Valley of Gariwerd Grampians National Park. The area has been largely cleared apart from remnant River Red Gums in the wetter areas, along with Swamp Tea Trees.

Over 2 days in July, 18 people attended the planting including members of FOFW including one member who drove all the way from Melbourne (he took an RDO) to attend the planting. This was an unusual planting in that the group only planted one species of tree – the Silver Banksia. The seedlings were grown from seed collected from 15 providences across the Volcanic Plains to provide genetically diverse seeds that can be harvested for future plantings. Interestingly, some of the providences include seeds from drier areas. This is to ensure genetically robust seeds that can survive a drier and warmer climate.

The area is home to a broad range of native animals including Grey Kangaroos, Dunnarts, Wallabies, Growling Grass Frogs, Brolga, dozens of bird species such as Brolga and Black Swans.

The Friends of Forgotten Woodlands Inc. are incredibly grateful for the generous donation to help us do what we love most. Being a Friends group, we apply for any grants that come our way, however anyone who has done this knows the time involved in filing out grant applications. To have such a donation of trees made to us because someone believes in what we do is very heartwarming. On behalf of all FOFW, thank you so much.

Aggie Stevenson |President | Friends of Forgotten Woodlands Inc.

Thank you to all the schools who chipped in to purchase 2 trees, your generous contribution is helping to complete beautiful projects such as this one. Since 2014, we have planted over 2,000 trees on the behalf of CERES and their visiting schools. To find all the trees, type CERES into the ‘search box’ on the Fifteen Trees website.

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

Writer: Colleen Filippa

Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. Her background is in environmental education. In 2009, after 20 years in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, Colleen left the classroom to start Fifteen Trees. Fifteen Trees is a social enterprise (putting people and planet first) that assists individuals and companies to reduce their carbon footprint through the support of community groups such as Landcare, environmental networks and friends groups.