What a wonderful National Tree Day we had! View this photo gallery.
A Big Thank You to over 100 enthusiastic volunteers for defying the cold and windy weather on Sunday, 29th July to plant, water and mulch 150 seedlings of local trees, shrubs and wildflowers in the nature reserve east of The Fair in North Watson. Many families, two Scout groups, students of the ANU Intrepid Landcare program and Landscape Architecture students from Taiwan worked hard and the planting spectacle was over in less than two hours.
Hot chocolate, coffee, tea, cakes, Timtams, playing and chatting with old and new friends rounded up this 11th National Tree Day hosted by the Friends of Mt Majura ParkCare Group.
Many people helped to make the event fun and a great success and I like to give special thanks to:
Mick Gentleman, MLA and Minister for the Environment for delivering a fantastic demonstration of “how to plant”;
Shane Rattenbury, MLA and planting veteran with Friends of Mount Majura for reading out the instructions on “how to plant” to Mick;
The team of the Transitional Release program of the Alexander Maconochie Prison Centre (TRC) for digging the planting holes which were much appreciated by the very young, the elderly and the in-betweens;
ParkCare ranger Martin “Marty” Bajt who worked with the TRC team and provided crucial support prior and during the event and Parks Service ranger Liam Banyer who gave up his free Sunday to help – thanks heaps guys;
The Fire Unit for delivering wood chip mulch which they harvested during recent maintenance work in the reserve;
Planting buddies Jo Lynch, Jenni Marsh, Zan, Athena Rogers, Margaret Clough and Jeanette Ruxton, who were there when they were needed;
Jochen Zeil for documenting the spectacle by taking photographs;
Cindy Allen for catering and for a delicious cake, thanks also to Dorothy Mackenzie and Jenni Marsh for cakes which disappeared quickly together with all the Timtams;
Jenni Marsh for putting up posters;
Barbara Inglis for the help with volunteer registration;
Alison Inglis for coordinating the Majura Mountain Scouts;
And volunteers and staff of Greening Australia for raising and arranging the seedlings.
I thank Mick Gentleman, Shane Rattenbury and Sally Box, the Federal Commissioner for Threatened Species for the opportunity to discuss the impact of encroaching residential development in North Watson on the management of endangered grassy woodlands, and for listening to ParkCare concerns about the severe overgrazing and the inappropriate use of the nature reserves that destroy conservation values and the work of volunteers.
And last, not least I’d like to thank our guests from Taiwan for their ongoing interest in our work and Max Pouwer, who was spotted wandering with the group discussing and explaining hours after the event finished.
Waltraud Pix
Friends of Mt Majura, National Tree Day 2018 coordinator, 31 July 2018
