The Viatek Group is a services-based organisation, offering business solutions for print, scanning & technology. With over 17 offices operating within Victoria & NSW, it makes them the largest regional supplier of managed print services, backed with local technicians on site.

Viatek people live and breathe the community which means, they support local businesses and community initiatives. This is carried out through recycling, conserving energy, preventing pollution & minimising waste through supporting tree planting in Victoria with Fifteen Trees. Viatek understands that ‘being green is not just a potential competitive business advantage, it is also a good way to reduce costs and create more streamlined business processes‘. 

Thank you to Craig McInnes and the team from Viatek Geelong for coming to the support of your local community groups by purchasing trees for their revegetation projects.

Tea-tree Creek, Geelong, VIC | 100 trees | 2024

This year, working with Geelong Landcare, we organised the planting of Viatek’s 150 native trees on Wadawurrung Country along Tea Tree Creek at Barrabool. This area was once dominated by an Eucalypt and Drooping Sheoak woodlands with a grassy understory. However, over the years, the area has been largely cleared and taken over by introduced pasture grasses. The aim of the planting group is to restore the site to past biomes with the planting of  species such as indigenous Manna Gums, Swamp Gums, narrow-leaf Peppermints, Drooping Sheoaks and Black Wattle.

Enhancing what native vegetation still remains and providing critically important animal habitat will see an improvement in both the local fauna species as well as those species (e.g. kangaroos, echidnas) using this area as a corridor or stepping stones between native reserves. There is a large diversity of fauna in the area, with animals such as Growling Grass Frogs, Platypus and Rakali.

Geelong Landcare Network was so thrilled to be given plants for this project. We thank all our supporters. Our aim is to restore and enhance our natural environment and your contribution has directly contributed to this aim. Thank you once again.

Bronwyn Merritt | Facilitator | Geelong Landcare Network.

Barwon River, Inverleigh, VIC |  240 trees | 2023

The trees at this location (Wadawurrung Country) were planted by Bronwyn Merritt and the Geelong Landcare Network (GLN) over the course of a few weeks in late spring/early summer. The aim of the planting is to replace introduced species with local indigenous ones, leading to an increase of biodiversity and habitat for local fauna.

These Barwon River planting sites are parts of an important wildlife corridors in the landscape.  Unfortunately, they have had a history of disturbance and extensive weed invasion.  Significant weed control work has been undertaken and now the planting group are reintroducing indigenous species and increasing biodiversity through revegetation.

As stewards of the land, being given opportunities to restore and enhance our natural environments, by creating habitats for our beloved wildlife is so important. Thank you very much to all our sponsors.

Bronwyn Merritt | Facilitator | Geelong Landcare Network

Bannockburn Bush is a significantly large patch of remnant vegetation in the area and home to a large number of flora and fauna species. It has a diverse variety of fauna species including over 130 bird species being recorded plus populations of platypus, tussock skink, tree dragon, blue-tongued lizard, little whip snake, black wallaby, kangaroo, fat-tailed dunnart, koala, echidna and even the endangered Growling Grass Frog.

Brisbane Ranges, VIC | 240 trees | 2022

This year, we planted Viatek’s trees in the beautiful district of the Brisbane Ranges, VIC. The planting was coordinated by Robert Hall from the local Landcare group. The trees were a mixture of local Acacia, Banksia, Bursaria and Eucalyptus and were planted in late October by over 30 local volunteers.

The planting site was on the Geelong-Ballan Road, on northern side of the Brisbane Ranges National Park. Durdidwarrah Country. The planting group worked with a Land Management Consultant to create contours to assist in the hydrology of the land, with particular emphasis on planting indigenous vegetation. In time, this site will be a thriving native corridor for the local population of koalas, echidnas, reptiles, kangaroos and wombats, as they make their way to and from the National Park nearby.

Bellarine Catchment, VIC | 120 trees | 2021

This year, Viatek trees were planted by Matt Crawley and his team from the Bellarine Catchment Network. The site is situated in an ecologically significant area of the foreshore near Swan Bay.

The Bellarine Catchment Network were assisted by Viatek, Geelong in revegetating a section of Coastal Foreshore near Swan Bay.  Swan Bay is a Ramsar Wetland of local, national and international significance.  This project has enabled protection and enhancement of the vegetation abutting Swan Bay and provides crucial habitat for the Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot. Initiatives like this help to piece together the fragmented landscape and join wildlife corridors for fauna to move through.  A great local project, connecting the community to the local environment.

 

Matt Crawley | Program Manager | Bellarine Catchment Network

Bellarine Catchment, VIC | 120 trees | 2020

Matt Crawley and his team at the Bellarine Catchment Network were delighted to receive 120 trees from Viatek Geelong.

These trees will support their ongoing tree planting project at The Bellarine Rail Trail. A critical habitat site. These trees have enabled the continuation of this project and continued revegetation works on the Bellarine.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can take many forms but for us … tree planting hits a number of targets!

• Community groups benefit as they receive free trees for their projects.
• The environment benefits as trees mean habitat for the native insects, birds, reptiles and mammals.
• And companies benefit too. ‘Through CSR programs, companies can help society while promoting their own brands. Corporate social responsibility can boost morale and can help both employees and employers feel more connected with the world around them’. (www.investopedia.com).

It’s perhaps not surprising that a company specialising in efficient systems should understand that it is, in itself, part of a system. A social, economic, and human system, one that ultimately needs to recognise its environmental stewardship role in order to prosper. We are glad that Viatek takes its responsibilities seriously and applies them to its own business practices, and more than happy to help it reduce its impact by planting trees.

Writer – Sarah Hart.

Sarah is an artist whose passions include the stories and experiences of women and narrative driven creative 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.