We love the origin story of Pana Organic. Founder and CEO Pana Barbounis first tasted artisan-made raw chocolate in early 2,000’s, and stated ‘the second I tasted it, everything changed.’ What was a side hustle after researching how to craft organic, vegan chocolate for six months, found Pana delivering homemade chocolate on his Vespa to local indie Naarm/Melbourne stores. Fast forward to 2024, Pana Organic is now a hugely successful organisation, staying true to its history and never compromising on its unique artisanal quality.

Sticking to their roots is also something Pana Organic has been proud of for many years now, as shown with our long-term association with the company.  Pana Organic and Fifteen Trees have been in partnership since 2013, and together we have planted over 22,000 native trees (links below).

This year, we teamed up once again with Pana to plant 2,000 trees to mark two special events on the environmental calendar:

• World Environment Day (5th June) Somers, VIC
• National Tree Day (28th July) Hastings, VIC

Site 1 | Somers, VIC | June 5th | 500 trees

On World Environment Day, a group of 35 people from Pana Organics rocked up at Somers on the Mornington Peninsula to plant 500 native trees.

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. By planting a wide variety of locally native plant species at our revegetation projects, the aim is to restore habitats that would have existed prior to land clearing. This means that the native flora is able to regenerate, and the local wildlife can return to the trees to use them as food sources and habitat.

Site 2 | Hastings, VIC | July 28th | 1,500 trees

On National Tree Day, a group of Pana Organics friends and family and the cycling team from Pedla gathered to plant with the local community 1,500 trees. Starting the day with coffee, chocolate and a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony by Josh; a local Bunurong man from Bunurong Land Council. Josh spoke about caring for country, a little about his own story and showed us the plants (eucalyptus, silver wattle and red berry) he was placing on the fire for our Smoking Ceremony. We were then invited to gather around the fire to allow the smoke to wrap around us. It was such a special moment, and for the womenfolk to be invited first was truly an honour.

Shortly after the ceremony, Dirk, Sonia and Michelle from Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation (MPKC) organised us into teams to help dig holes, transport seedlings and bamboo stakes, lay out the trees and finally plant. Deep muddy patches were no deterrent, as we helped each other out of quagmires and mud holes.

The 2 days of plantings were coordinated by the Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation on the Mornington Peninsula, the traditional lands of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, as part of their Somers/Hastings Koala Habitat Project. This group is dedicated to creating a koala wildlife corridor  by connecting existing sections of koala habitat.

This revegetation project is a wonderful one to support. With over 70% of landholders participating in the project, it is also backed by Mornington Peninsula Shire, Parks Victoria and the Department of Defence. And now with sponsors such as Fifteen Trees and Pana Organic, this revegetation project is growing by leaps and bounds.

To achieve our goals, we need funding to purchase trees for the wildlife corridors. All money received goes directly towards bringing our project and goals to life. Thank you to Pana Organic and Fifteen Trees for your assistance by purchasing trees on our behalf and indeed for coming out to plant too.

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.

Here’s some links to Pana’s trees in 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

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

Writer: Colleen B. 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.