Rotary Club Pascoe Vale. Gifting trees to their speakers.

July 11, 2026

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Rotary Club Pascoe Vale. Gifting trees to their speakers.

What was once a heavily degraded site, scarred by gold mining and decades of neglect, is now a thriving pocket of native bushland coming back to life thanks to supporters such as Pascoe Vale Rotary Club.

TREES PLANTED

40

There’s a long tradition in Rotary of giving back to communities, to causes and to the people who inspire them. The Pascoe Vale Rotary Club has found a quietly beautiful way to honour that tradition this coming financial year.

Rather than the usual gift or token of appreciation, the club has decided to present each of their guest speakers throughout the year with something a little more lasting. For every speaker who takes to the floor, a native tree has been planted in Victoria on their behalf.

Members of the Pascoe Vale Rotary Club of Victoria.

Forty speakers. Forty native trees. Forty small contributions to the restoration of Victoria’s natural landscapes.

Each speaker will receive a certificate telling the story of their tree – where it’s been planted, who planted it and the difference it’s making to local wildlife and habitat. It’s a gift that says something about the values of the club doing the giving, as much as it honours the person receiving it.

Here at Fifteen Trees, we love this idea. It’s exactly the kind of creative, meaningful gesture that turns a simple act of community tree planting into something people remember and talk about.

Site A | Napoleans, VIC | 40 trees | 2026

This is the territory of the Napoleons and Enfield Landcare Group and for years, their dedicated volunteers have been patiently rehabilitating the riparian zone along the Yarrowee and Union Jack Creek (traditional lands of the Wadawurrung People). For those unfamiliar with the term, riparian zones are the strips of land that border our rivers, streams, creeks, gullies and wetlands, that is, the living edges of our waterways, and among the most ecologically important habitats in the Australian landscape.

Some of the volunteers planting at Napoleans, VIC.

What was once a heavily degraded site, scarred by gold mining and decades of neglect, is now a thriving pocket of native bushland coming back to life. Frogs, rakali (native water rats), echidnas, koalas, wallabies and possums have all returned. Dragonflies, bees and countless other invertebrates are back in the under-storey. And the birds species have grown from just six species recorded in 2010 to more than forty in last year. Kangaroos and koalas are now regular inhabitants of the reserve. Birds of prey circle overhead.

The most recent planting of eucalypts, acacias, banksias and hakeas planted on the overlooking escarpment will help stabilise the soil and banks. The new native trees will provide shade along the creek, create vital shelter for fish and platypus, protect the riparian zone from erosion and flood damage, and help buffer the landscape against strong winds as the canopy matures.

Thank you Pascoe Vale Rotary Club for your support of our Victorian tree planting projects.

Writer: Colleen B. Filippa

With a background in Environmental Science from Melbourne University, Colleen is the Founding Director of Fifteen Trees. In 2009, after 20 years in 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, and environmental networks.

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