In late May, Greening Australia joined forces with miner and refinery operator, Alcoa of Australia, to launch an ambitious rehabilitation project called the One Million Trees Project.
The project will see the planting of more than one million trees in degraded areas south of Perth in Western Australia and in western Victoria during the next three years.
The CEO of Greening Australia, Brendan Foran said the project will involve more than one thousand community members and land owners, capture thousands of tonnes of CO2 and restore degraded habitats.
“Greening Australia and Alcoa of Australia have extended one of Australia’s most successful corporate and environmental partnerships to a record 34 years by committing to plant over one million trees during the next three years.
Alcoa of Australia Managing Director Alan Cransberg said, “Together through the one million trees partnership, we can achieve something of enormous value for future generations – the preservation and enhancement of unique environments like the Peel Biolink and Habitat 141”.
Mr Foran said the two nationally significant landscapes that will be the focus of One Million Trees program are:
PEEL BIOLINK
The South West region of Western Australia is identified as one of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots, internationally recognised for the richness and diversity of the area’s native flora and fauna.
The Peel Biolink will reconnect the Darling Scarp to the Ramsar Listed Peel Estuary system through the revegetation and restoration of key ecological assets and biodiversity corridors within the Peel Catchment area.
This landscape scale corridor project is situated within close proximity to Alcoa’s mining and alumina refining operations.
HABITAT 141
This part of the One Million Trees program will support our Habitat 141 program to link national parks from the outback to the ocean, and is one of the largest environmental restoration projects ever undertaken in Victoria.
The One Million Trees program in Victoria extends from the Little Desert National Park in the north to the Portland area of the south coast, working with farmers and local community organisations to restore rivers, wetlands and bushland, reconnecting some of our most ecologically important parks and reserves.
“Work on the One Million Trees program is now underway and we look forward to Government, other business and individuals standing alongside Alcoa to help expand the critical work of restoring Australia’s unique landscapes, so that people and wildlife can co-exist and thrive” Mr Foran said. “One Million Trees is just the beginning”
“…we can achieve something of enormous value for future generations – the preservation and enhancement of unique environments…”
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