Manning Coastcare Group

Huge Community Response to Act of Vandalism

When someone in the community poisoned all of the plantings of a Coastcare youth group, the community came together for a huge planting day in response.

Capacity building - LEP23_026_LLC

The issue

Forest Heart is a Coastcare group based in Red Head on the NSW midcoast. The group was established four years ago by a group of friends led by Shiloh Herzberg Nicholls who was only eleven years old at the time. The group has focussed on planting native trees to protect and extend the existing littoral rainforest stand on their site, planting an approximate 1000 trees over the four years. Unfortunately, in October 2024 someone sprayed and killed nearly every one of those trees, including the original plantings, which included some young trees up to 3 metres in height. This was a devastating blow for the young group.

The solution

As the Local Landcare Coordinator responsible for the group, it was my priority to make sure the young Forest Heart group didn't fall into despair and give up on their years of work. A community planting day was quickly planned, and support sought from MidCoast Council and local community groups. The poisoning received a lot of community attention on social media and a Channel 7 local news crew visited the site and interviewed volunteers. 

The impact

On the 1st December we had well over 100 people turn out to help replace the plants that had been killed by this one devastating act of vandalism. We didn’t want to over-plant at the start of summer and overwhelm the group with the work of keeping the plants alive, so approximately 540 plants were planted. All the plants were provided free of charge by MidCoast Council, the Diamond Beach RFS provided water on site for the new plants, and the Lions Club of Hallidays Point provided a free sausage sizzle for all attendees. Young buskers and a face painter rounded out the festive community day feel. The event buoyed the spirits of the young Forest Heart group enormously, and hopefully sent a clear message to the tree poisoner that the community is not on their side. To date, the planted trees have had a great survival rate and the site is continuing to thrive.

Author: Helen Kemp

Key facts

  • Act of vandalism a devastating blow for a young Coastcare group.
  • Huge community response saw over 100 people come out to help replant.