We love it when businesses take us literally. Like the Macneil Group, which plants fifteen trees for each vehicle in its fleet. For those new to us, our name – Fifteen Trees – comes from a carbon reducing calculation. The combined emissions from running a regular car for one year can be offset by planting 15 trees. If this seems like a lot of trees…it is. Cars are polluters, there are no two ways about it. The Macneil Group’s decision to link its tree planting to its fleet recognises that there are ongoing environmental costs to growth.

We have been planting native trees for Macneil Group since 2012 and to date have now planted 1,290 trees on their behalf. This year’s trees (150) were planted at Sunnybank Farm, Burrumbeet, VIC (land of the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung people) with assistance from Year 10 students from Ballarat Clarendon College. This site has been specifically designed so that insects and birds (such as Wedge-tailed eagle, Black kites, Black swans, Black and white cockatoos, magpies and ravens, Square-tailed Kite, Tawny Frogmouth and Black Falcon) can safely travel between paddocks, encouraging increased activity and diversity.

Tree planting day at Sunnybank Farm.

Some of the species planted included: Black and Silver Wattle, Drooping Sheoak, River Bottlebrush, Hop Bush, Yellow Box, Yellow Hakea and Wooly Teatree, and were sourced from Neagnar Nursery in Bendigo. The trees planted were a continuation from previous years planting to create a wildlife corridor between small remnant reserves.

We are super grateful to those who purchased these trees on our behalf. These trees have established well and are going to provide many years of shelter and feed to native wildlife. Each year we are able to plant more trees than planned due to the generous sponsors of Fifteen trees.

Jasmine Walton | Manager | Sunnybank Farm

Burrumbeet, (VIC) Home of the Tawny-frogmouth.

In the same way it takes multiple people and groups to develop a building project, so too does it take the effort and commitment of many to create a forest. We are glad to work with a developer that recognises the interconnectedness of all things. By sponsoring trees Macneil Group is not only reducing its business impact on the environment, but also enabling regional Landcare Groups to plan and complete vital land management projects.

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven work. Her aim is to delight, to reveal glimpses of everyday beauty and to celebrate flights of the ordinary. Sarah works across a range of media, with an abiding interest in pen and ink, mixed media and the human form. You can find Sarah here.