Greater Shepparton City Council to celebrate 100,000th tree planting milestone

Following the ‘One Tree Per Child’ initiative launched in 2016, Greater Shepparton City Council will be celebrating the planting of the 100,000th tree on Friday 27th May 2022 at Tassika Park, Kittles Road in Shepparton.

The One Tree Per Child is a global initiative founded by Olivia Newton-John and Jon Dee with the aim of getting millions of children planting trees.

Schools, parents and business have been invited to attend and have the opportunity to plant a tree with Gardening Australia ‘guru’, Costa. Council will provide free indigenous plants, guards, stakes and weedmats and will continue plant maintenance including watering, weeding and mowing for one year after initial planting.

There have been 100,000 plants installed at 104 sites and 33 local primary and secondary schools involved in the project since it was launched within the region in 2016, with the aim of planting one Indigenous plant for every child within the municipality aged under 18 each year.

A majority of the species planted have been Indigenous shrubs and groundcovers that have been largely cleared from our region. The aim is to restore woodland species to provide habitat for woodland birds and other native fauna. There have been 25 varieties of native trees and shrubs that have been planted including kangaroo grass, river red gum and emu bush.

Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor, Kim O’Keeffe said it was really exciting and inspiring to know that the community had reached this momentous milestone.

Mayor O’Keeffe noted “100,000 plants is a significant number, and it has been achieved through children’s participation collectively enhancing our region’s environment by planting native Indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses.

“One Tree Per Child is such a wonderful program and to have the involvement from our children demonstrates the real value of protecting our flora and fauna, especially having declared a Climate Emergency in 2020.

“The state of our climate and environment affects every section of our community and the generations that follow. This program enables our children to be involved with the rehabilitation of our environment and then to return in time to see the results which is such a beautiful connection.

“Let’s plant a tree for every child and enjoy watching the trees grow as our children grow!”

For more information go to onetreeperchild.com/