City of Onkaparinga Council has joined with not-for-profit social enterprise, One Tree Per Child, to boost tree planting efforts in the LGA in what is a first for any South Australian council.
One Tree Per Child was established by Jon Dee and the late Olivia Newton-John (pictured, below), the founders of Australia’s highly successful ‘National Tree Day’.
The movement has seen hundreds of thousands of trees planted across 10 countries.
It’s the first time One Tree Per Child, which encourages every child to plant at least one tree before leaving school, has partnered with an SA council.
“For your kids or grandkids, this simple act of tree planting could be their very first act of
volunteering or giving back to the community,” says Jon Dee, who also co-founded Planet Ark and National Recycling Week.
“When kids plant a tree, they’re putting down roots in their local community. As their tree grows, we find that their commitment to nature, wildlife and the community grows as well.”
Onkaparinga, Mayor Moira Were said metropolitan Adelaide’s tree canopy was under threat, particularly on private land.
“And that’s why we’re offering the community the resources, inspiration – and trees – to help cool their properties and provide habitat for wildlife,” she said.
One-thousand trees will be available for the community to plant at home. A tree giveaway event will be held at Seaford Community Centre on Sunday 2 June (ahead of World Environment Day) and will include a range of fun family activities, information stalls and talks.
One Tree Per Child Onkaparinga will also provide 400 trees to several local schools for students to plant on campus and at home as part of a Green Adelaide education program.
Promoted plants for the inaugural campaign include the Silver Banksia (Banksia marginata) and Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata) – both habitat for the yellow-tailed black cockatoo.
“I encourage everyone to access the fantastic resources available at our webpage to find out how you can plant a tree or shrub on your property, where you can source your tree, and what species are suitable this planting season, which runs from April to October,” says Mayor Were.
“Once you’ve planted, drop a pin on our interactive map so the community can see our collective canopy grow. Let’s bring the birds back to our yards!”
The program complements the 5000+ trees the Council plants annually in reserves, streets and parks; and its community tree initiatives, which include ongoing sustainability workshops, an Adopt a Tree program, a seed library at Woodcroft Library, tree tags and trails and a Tree of the Month campaign.
