Free trees, farmers and footy – What a match!
Murrumbidgee Landcare’s Bidgee Woodlands area has a busy family-oriented farming community who love their football and congregate on weekends to enjoy it with family and friends. Osborne was a great location to catch them on National Tree Day to give away some trees/shrubs and grasses.
Capacity building - LEP23_036_LLC3_5
The issue
The Lockhart, Mangoplah, Henty and Collingullie area is part of the Riverina’s rich busy farming region. Because of its value as a farming area there has been a lot of clearing of land to make way for farming. This clearing has led to the loss of remnant vegetation and habitat for native fauna. As a result, there are many species of endangered fauna in the region. The Superb Parrot, the Squirrel Glider and the Glossy Black Cockatoo are some of the species affected by the clearing. This problem is not just at a species level but at a population level where many woodland birds are also threatened.
The solution
Eastern Riverina Landcare volunteers gave away trees/shrubs and grasses for national tree day to help replant the cleared farming land for endangered species. The busy farmers in the area are very connected to the Osborne Football ground and it is here they meet up as a family and a well-connected community for weekend sport. So, it was decided that the football and netball clubhouse veranda would provide a good location to set up a stall and meet with the farming community. The plants were purchase at a discount from the Wagga Nursery with funds provided by the local Lockhart Shire Council.
The impact
The Murrumbidgee Landcare Coordinator and volunteers from the Eastern Riverina Landcare Group spoke to 60 people on the day. 120 trees were given away along with large numbers of brochures and information sheets on the topics of restoration. They provided information on revegetation, species selection, planting dams, bird identification and membership to Landcare groups.
The attendees were also introduced to the new Revegetation Guide to select the endemic species most suited to their landscape plantings. They took photos of the QR code and can now have access to the full manual online. https://revegetation.org.au
Key facts
- Find your target audiences favourite place to be e.g. Football and set up a stall to have a chat to them about Landcare and revegetation.
- Learnard enthusiastic volunteers with loads of brochures to hand out are a great asset at a field day.