Gin Gin Landcare group has welcomed Council’s one million trees program, saying it will have a positive impact on the environment.
Mayor Jack Dempsey announced this week that Council has has set an ambitious target of planting one million trees in four years to offset emissions, improve liveability and benefit the environment.
The bold vision aims to harness support from community organisations.
Gin Gin Landcare president Ray Johnson welcomed the news and spoke about the positive impact of planting more trees.
“Just about everywhere you go in the world you see trees and there’s obviously a very good reason for them being there,” said Ray.
“I think everyone appreciates the idea of trees growing around the city. They’re colourful, textual, and on a hot day everybody heads for the shade of a tree.
“The benefit of native trees is that they naturalise the area, can withstand the long droughts we have and because they’re growing in this area are more suited to the extreme conditions we have in Australia.”
The project will take a collaborative approach that engages community groups, indigenous organisations, volunteers, commercial nurseries and other levels of government.
Mayor Dempsey said Council would explore government grant opportunities in partnership with environmental organisations.
“Every tree has its own story and we’ll have one million new stories spread across the Bundaberg region, bringing benefits to the environment and great pleasure to the volunteers and people throughout the community who get a great sense of worth and fulfilment by being involved in planting trees,” he said.
There will be a web page with tools and resources related to the program, including a counter of trees planted over the next four years.
The program is expected to commence on 1 October 2020 and continue until 30 September 2024.
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