Trees For Life: Bush for Life Program
Rita Reitano. Urban Ecology Australia. 2004.2
Trees For Life's aim is to promote and assist in the revegetation of South Australia with its Tree Scheme and Direct Seeding programs and to protect remnant bushland through Bush For Life. From its humble beginnings, Trees For Life is now one of South Australia's most successful and respected environmental organisations, with over 24 million seedlings grown to date. Not-for-profit and non-political, Trees For Life relies on the goodwill and commitment of thousands of members and volunteers from all walks of life who have built it from the ground up.
Today approximately 70 volunteers collect seed each year contributing to around 40 kilograms of seed to the Trees For Life seedbank. This accounts for 60% of what Trees For Life needs to run the Tree Scheme. The Tree Scheme annually grows over 1.25 million local native seedlings for rural properties with the help of approximately 1,500 South Australians who volunteer to grow hundreds of seedlings in their backyard every summer.
A 1999 Government report found that 75% of all local native seedlings used for revegetation purposes in SA were privately funded. Of this, 82% of these seedlings were provided by Trees For Life.
Trees For Life trees, shrubs and grasses work hard in South Australia, from the Northern arid lands to the agricultural districts, across the Mallee to the high rainfall areas of the mountain ranges in the South East. Even on the secluded and wildlife rich habitat of Kangaroo Island. They are planted to combat salt, reduce wind and water erosion and provide shade for stock, or as vegetation buffers around patches of remnant vegetation providing vital protection.
And Trees For Life's revegetation work is increasing with a Direct Seeding program. The focus is on increasing biodiversity in broad scale revegetation, promoting ecologically sound plant communities which are to be self sustaining in years to come.
But remnant vegetation in South Australia needs protecting. It has been heavily cleared and fragmented and so the Bush For Life program is now protecting 293 sites of conservation significance with the help of 700 volunteers. Volunteers are trained in the past and present vegetation conditions of South Australia, bush management techniques such as minimal disturbance weeding methods and plant identification.
Threatened species are targeted across the Mt Lofty Ranges. The nationally endangered orchid, Caladenia argocalla (white beauty spider orchid) is being managed on a Bush For Life site near Clare and the nationally vulnerable Olearia pannosa ssp. pannosa (silver daisy- bush) is on a site in Goolwa. In fact, over 200 threatened plant species are found across all Bush For Life sites. "Without our native bushland these threatened species would not exist, which is why volunteers manage all of the vegetation on a site and don't just focus on the threatened species," says Andrew Allanson, Bush For Life Coordinator with Trees For Life. "Bush For Life sites are genuine examples of our local natural heritage, but they require active management."
2007.2.8