Maria Island Cruises have been operating educational tourist trips since 2006. Over that time they have taken thousands of people on their award winning wildlife tours of Maria Island National Park, and Ille Des Phoques.

Maria Island is famous for its eclectic wildlife. On a cruise you are likely to spot fur seals, dolphins, wombats, kangaroos, Cape Barren geese, eagles, wallabies, albatross and whales (during migration), whilst taking in the World famous landscapes and UNESCO World Heritage history.

Every year, Mike and the crew kindly collect funds from visitors on their tours and steer those funds towards good works on the island, including tree planting projects. They also add to the funding from their own cash reserves!

Huon Valley, TAS | 500 trees | 2024

Russ Trust Landcare Group manages conservation covenant land in Melukerdee Country, Huon Valley, Tasmania. The land is an unusual mix of native rainforest, wet forest and 25 acres of niten (pulp tree) plantation. Sixteen acres of this has been harvested and is being actively regenerated, with the remainder transitioning more gradually.

This season 550 indigenous trees and shrubs have been planted, thanks to sponsorship by East Coast Cruises. All plants are well protected from the cute but very cunning native animals, with tree guards, stakes, pins and chicken wire covers.

A range of species have been chosen to reflect the native surrounds and provide habitat for threatened species. These include blue gums, white gums, mountain ash and other eucalyptus species, fast growing dogwoods and blanket leaf (which possums find particularly delicious) and bird-friendly shrubs such as banksias and bottlebrushes. The local wrens and robins are always interested when planting occurs as mulch is moved and insects unearthed, providing an easy meal. Other local animals include wedge tailed eagles and black cockatoos who watch from high above, currawongs and ravens who investigate all the tools, while wallabies, pademelons and possums all watch on. Other local species who need cover and old logs to hide in include echidnas, eastern quolls and devils. At night boo-book owls, tawny frogmouths and a range of frogs sing to one another.

While most planting is done by the land-owners,  on National Tree Day community members arrived to assist by popping trees in the ground and afterwards enjoying a campfire on what turned out to be an extremely cold day!

We are incredibly grateful to Maria Island Cruises and for supporting this regeneration project and conservation at large on the island. As we worked, we enjoyed seeing nature participate in recovery with hundreds of different fungi growing in our planting site, ferns poking out from felled branches and now native orchids are popping up around our plants. We look forward to watching our baby plants grow, knowing that their conservation status means they will be protected long-term.

Thanks so much for supporting us, it means a lot to know that other people care about this place and our collective future. It’s a drop in the ocean for climate change and helping threatened species but every bit helps!

Gayle Newbold | Member |Russ Trust Landcare Group

Berriedale Bay & Coal Valley, TAS | 532 trees | 2023

Keen to improve their ecological footprint, the team have put their money where their mouth is and supported the planting of native trees at 2 Tasmanian/Lutruwita sites; Berriedale Bay and Coal Valley.

Site A | Berriedale Bay | 300 trees

This bay is a gorgeous coastal area adjacent to Hobart’s world famous Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). For locals, it also marks the start of a delightful coastal walk through saltmarsh, sandstone cliffs, and allocasuarina forests to Windermere May further along the Derwent.

For the planting, the group chose to revegetate a section that was at risk of being strangled by invasive hawthorne scrub. They planted trees made up of Tasmanian native blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) and beaked hakeas (Hakea rostrata). These will provide a barrier between native wetland species and the road, and will also provide a significant food source for native insects and bird species during spring and summer. Sixteen (16) people attended the planting with volunteers from Claremont Coast Care and Conservation Volunteers Australia joining forces.  Glenorchy City Council will monitor and water these new plantings until they reach maturity.

Thank you very much for supporting this project in being able to provide trees to the newly formed Claremont Coast Care group.  The plants are being used to enhance the biodiversity of a weed infested foreshore at Claremont in Tasmania. Much work has already been done to remove the weeds and no doubt seeing new plants go in the ground will inspire more people to get involved with this group.

Amanda Cole | Nursery Volunteer and Coordinator | Understorey Network

Site B | Coal River, TAS | 232

Zoodoo is set on the hinterlands of the Coal River Tier, a beautiful bushland backdrop directly adjoining the zoos rear boundary. Situated between the towns of Tea Tree and Richmond, the 2000 acres of dry forest clads the western escarpment of the Coal River Tier. Zoodoo manages around 15% of this significant patch of threatened vegetation.

Towering 350m above the zoo, the Tiers forested slopes are isolated from other bushland remnants in the region by adjoining human modified environs. The bushland has become an ‘island adrift in a sea of agriculture’. After a preliminary assessment of the site by the Tasmanian Land Conservancies Land for Wildlife program, the refuge has been found to hold significant biodiversity values. Early results of monitoring in the refuge with automatic wildlife detection cameras have identified multiple individual endangered Tasmanian Devils and vulnerable Spotted tailed quolls breeding and living on the Tier.

Other interesting animals recorded in the area include; eastern barred bandicoot, Green and Gold Frog, Tasmanian Bettong, wombats, pademelons, bennetts wallabies, echidnas, and wedgetailed eagles.

Zoodoo is protecting and managing this reserve at Coal River Tier for its natural values plus promoting connectivity and ecosystem services. Developing innovative approaches to engage the community and zoo visitors in this exciting project will be instrumental in defining future directions for Zoodoo.

Some neighbouring properties along the Tier have also recognised the natural values of this vegetation with a conservation covenant on one 320 acre title and a Land for Wildlife block on another 55 acres. The Zoo hopes to seek further collaboration with the aim of promoting the protection and management of this valuable native forest remnant.

This is a great example of increasing your impact! Through the support from Maria Island Cruises, this project is now growing by leaps and bounds.

Many thanks to the team from Maria Island Cruises for their support of our Tasmanian community tree planting projects.

If you are interested in how your business and Fifteen Trees could work together, contact Colleen at <[email protected]> and/or check out our Company page for more info.

Writer – Lou Ridsdale

Lou is a big fan of words and has been our Comms Manager since 2019.

She is 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. Her passion for education + communication being the most empowering tool for change is reflected in her setting up her side hustle Hey Hoe Let’s Grow. She also founded Food Is Free Inc., a unique grassroots food security platform specialising in food security education. She fell in love with trees after reading The Magic Faraway Tree as a child.

You can find Lou here