Trees for individuals are adding up. Sixty-one (61) kind-hearted souls, over the course of the year purchased trees for us to plant on their behalf. Trees to cover their flights, trees to cover their cars and trees as gifts and in memory of a loved one.

Over one thousand (1,000) native trees planted in the Bass Shire of Victoria on the behalf of these generous individuals with another 60 trees planted at Grenville, Ballarat, VIC and 185 trees planted in the Hunter Valley of NSW.

Planting trees in memory of a loved one.

• Karen Jones planted trees in loving memory of her mother Rotarut Karin Jones (19/1/31 – 21/12/23). Rotarut migrated from Hamburg, Germany in 1958 and spent the rest of her life in Ballarat and Wallace. (60 trees)

May your day be filled with blessings,
Like the sun that always lights the sky.
May you always have great courage,
To spread your wings and fly.
May you have a friendly greeting,
For those you meet along life’s way.
And until we meet again,
My soul renews you.

Believe by Aled Jones

• We have planted 15 trees ‘In loving tribute to Dorothy Hood, and with love for Dean, Kathryn, Aden, Finn and Meika, who will miss her‘. From Blanka, Eliot and Colin.

• We personally planted 15 native trees for our cousin Marie’s husband Paul who very sadly passed away in his home in Killarney, Ireland.

Thank you to the following who purchased 15 trees.

• Matt Halford
• Richard Halford
• Elena Fragasso
• Minh Tue Mai
• Robyn Ashmore
• Elissa Goodrich
• Denise Callaghan
• Andrew Boatman
• Ellie Metcalf
• Andy
• Sarah Cole
• Jordan Trickey
• Richard Purdy
• Paul Howard
• Elaine Williams. Winner of the Bendigo Sustainability Festival raffle.
• Philip Giddings
• Geoff Bergen. These trees are a gift for Robyn.
• Alister Page
• Alexander Pritchard
• Alexandra Heath
• Deborah Greenslade. Purchased trees for her grandson on his first birthday.
• Shannon Haitz
• David Goode
• Beverly McGain
• Alexandra Shiga
• Fran Gass
• Nat Atherden
• Liz Leorke
• Liam O’Shannessy

Thank you to those who purchased 30 trees.

• Shenaaz Hoosein. ‘I purchased these trees as part of my 50^th birthday celebrations. I asked friends to contribute what they felt like, rather than buying me a gift (which they did anyway). As a collective, these trees are celebrating life, friendships and the future’. 
• Jenny and Thomas Kan

Thank you to those who purchased 60 trees.

• Phillip Sherlock
• Douglas Proctor

Thank you to those who purchased trees to cover the carbon footprint of their flights (1 tree per hour in the air).

• Douglas Proctor (120 trees)
• Helen Pritchard (32 trees)
• Georgina Imberger (40 trees)
• Katie White (10 trees)

Thank you to the Brigidine Sisters. 

• Brigidine Association (10 trees)
• Sr Rosemary Kerr (15 trees)
• Sr Julia Williams (15 trees)
• Bonbeach Sisters (15 trees)
• Malvern Sisters (15 trees)
• Ardeer Sisters (60 trees)

We like to give trees as gifts too!

• Baby Zarlie needs her own small forest. In fact, doesn’t every baby? (15 trees)
• Like Butter team Jem and Laura kindly donated a small kitchenette for our office, in return we planted some trees on their behalf (60 trees).
• After being invited to be part of a Uniting Church panel at a little country church hall , we thought it would be a nice gesture to plant one tree for every attendee (15 trees).
• Donna Guille and Lou Ridsdale. These 2 women keep the show going, the wheels turning and the friendships ignited (30 trees).
• On International Women’s Day (March 8th) via our Insta account, we asked people to tag their favourite women. Forty women were tagged. Here are your trees (40 trees).

SITE 1 | Ballarat, VIC | 60 trees

The trees were planted in early autumn, and included species such as Wattles, Callistemon, Sheoaks and Eucalyptus trees. Some of the benefits of trees include:

• adding to the flora biodiversity,
• providing habitat for fauna,
• preventing erosion of the river banks during high flows,
• increasing diversity of insect life and
• the diversity of feed for the life in the river.

Thank you so much to those who have contributed to our trees. The planting of these trees are appreciated by our family, our community and by those coming after us.

Jason Hutchin | Member | Leigh Creek Landcare

SITE 2 | Powlett River, VIC | 1,020 trees

The koalas of Sth Gippsland are remnant koalas of special significance in Victoria. These koalas were not affected by hunting in the 1800s and the translocation of inbred koalas which have low genetic diversity and alot of health issues associated with inbreeding. The Sth Gippsland koalas have a greater genetic diversity and are more robust and better able to withstand environmental changes and disease. It is important that we find these remnant koalas and protect their habitat and enhance it through revegetation which will provide more habitat and essentially allow for a greater genetic diversity of the species. The koala is known as an ‘umbrella species’ this means when we protect the koala and enhance its habitat, we also provide benefits to other plants and animals.

The native vegetation planted included; Manna Gum, Swamp Gum, Peppermint, Blue Gum, Banksia, Tea tree, shrubs and grasses indigenous to that region. In the interests of heathy ecosystems a range of tiers or layers need to be planted, hence we have supported the planting of not only large canopy trees but also with under-storey vegetation such as shrubs, grasses and ground-covers. All plants were sourced from Willum Warrain Aboriginal Corporation in Hastings.

We were delighted to partner with Fifteen Trees to help restore property in Bass that is a critical area for our threatened Koala in the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This project has been very successful in meeting its objectives.

We now know that not only do we have koalas in the Woodlands but some are of the special Strzelecki koala genome. This genome has not been found this far south of South Gippsland. This find is very important and it is recommended that further koala habitat is revegetated on adjacent properties in order to create a bio link to enhance the existing habitat, therefore increasing the genetic diversity of all plants and animals.

​This project was very popular with the community and required a lot of time preparing for and undertaking presentations and workshops.

We aim to spend time on more revegetation efforts but through this project we now have a lot of interest in landowners wanting to revegetate their properties in the future and many more people wanting to participate with koala scat collection across Victoria.

This project has proved to be a great pilot study and has gained the interest of DEECAs Arthur Rylah Institute for this research to be conducted across Victoria forming part of their koala population and health survey study.​

Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Glen Brooks-MacMillan | Coordinator | Mornington Peninsula & Western Port Biosphere Reserve

Site 3 | Hunter Valley | 185 trees

The trees were planted at Morpeth Common in the Hunter Valley of NSW, to help improve the natural beauty and give access to the area to local residents. These trees will also create a green space to enhance the health of the existing ‘dry rainforest’ by increasing the biodiversity of the area with the new plantings as well as reduce evaporation, algae blooms and improve soils.

The area is bound by a stretch of lagoon and wetland on the northern side, and a gully on the southern side. The trees planted were a mixture of rainforest species specially chosen for the site, including wattles (Maidens, Silver), bottlebrushes, Casuarinas, Lomandras, Paperbarks, Tea-trees, Eucalyptus and Moreton Bay Figs.

Rainforest birds such as Satin bower birds, fig birds, Koels, Night Herons, Spoonbils and Channel billed cuckoos frequent the Common.

A huge thank you for your contribution which enabled us to plant these trees in The Common.

Stacy Mail | Coordinator | Lower Hunter Region Landcare Network

Together, as individuals, we can make significant change. Think of people like Greta Thunberg, who went from a lone figure protesting on the steps of her parliament to the symbolic leader of a worldwide youth climate movement. Think of the social justice marches of the past few years, those rivers of people taking over our streets and calling for change. All individuals. All making a difference.

Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.

Margaret Mead | Cultural Anthropologist

We see it very clearly here are Fifteen Trees. We have hundreds of individuals who purchase small numbers of trees, because that’s what they can do right now. But those small numbers add up! Thousands of trees have been planted thanks to small personal gestures of generosity and forward-thinking. First a rustle, then a roar, and finally a forest.

This is the power of acting individually and working collectively. If you think you can’t make an impact, we’re here to tell you that you can. Because it’s never just you. It’s all of us, and we’re facing these challenges together.

Would you like to add to our tree tally? You can purchase trees here.

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.