G.J. Gardner’s core business is building homes. Safe, secure places for families to grow and thrive for many years to come. We love that alongside this G.J. Gardner is planting forests, which is very much the same thing; safe, secure places for fauna and flora to grow and thrive for many years to come.

Andrew Timms leads the team at  G.J Gardner Homes Melb Inner East who are generous supporters of local community groups, and their tree planting projects. This year they purchased 405 native trees for one of our community revegetation projects, bringing the tally of trees in total to 2,595!

The planting site for this year’s trees was at Boneo on the Mornington Peninsula. Over the course of the winter, they were planted by the Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation as part of their Somers Koala Habitat Project.

The Somers Koala Habitat Project is a fabulous project to support. With over 70% of landholders participating in this revegetation project it is also backed by Mornington Peninsula Shire, Parks Victoria and the Department of Defence. And now with sponsors such as G.J. Gardner, this revegetation project is growing by leaps and bounds.

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 Andrew and the team from GJG for your support.

Dirk Jensan | Coordinator | MPKC

Here’s a few reasons why this project is so important:

• Recent research from Deakin University suggests that the koala population has been negatively impacted by the highly fragmented nature of habitat on the Mornington Peninsula.
• By providing a wildlife corridor it will allow animals including koalas to move safely, to reach vital food resources and help maintain viable populations.
• Without this, koala populations will inevitably continue to decline, become isolated and may face local extinction.

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

Thank you Andrew for the additional funding for tree guards. These guards helps protect the new seedling and gives it protection from grazers, in particular rabbits and kangaroos. Inside the plastic sleeves, a microclimate helps protect them from harsh UV, drifting sand, frost, and wind. Once the seedlings survive their first summer and get the opportunity to develop a strong taproot, their chances of survival skyrockets.

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.