Tree Planting for the River Murray
I thought that it was only in Scotland that you could have sun, rain, wind, cloud and hail stones within an hour, but Ryan and I and a few hundred volunteers got that and more when we planted trees near where the River Murray meets the sea. It was also shocking to note how green everything was given all the talk about drought. From our vantage point, we could see the River Murray as it trickled into the dried out beds of Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina subject of so much political spin at the state and federal level.
Green Fleet and the South Australia Scouts partnered to plant over 3000 native trees on top of a hill near Goolwa yesterday. The Scouts have been doing this at different sites in South Australia for eight years. Ryan’s Joey mob had fun getting wet and dirty, getting a nature connection and developing some carbon offsets for some organisations. Not that complicated really.
Incredible logistics to get so much done in a few hours at a relatively remote location. I used to grow native seedlings for Trees for Life here in South Australia. It was nice to see the other part of the puzzle, actually getting trees planted.
I liked the way that it was set up, where a large number of people could do a small bit to make a difference. Collectively they had a achieved a lot and by the time that we left you could see an area that was previously just pasture showing the first signs of a return of habitat that has been lost for hundreds of years at that location. People from the Cleland Wildlife Park brought along some friends who used to live in these kinds of habitats and Ryan was introduced to a very nice black headed python. A nice connection for the kids to see.
Now wouldn’t it be good if our proposed Emissions Trading Scheme were that simple.
Although you definitely have...
Great post and photos
Actually I got the number of plantings wrong. They planted over 10,000 over the weekend.
I was in the first round of Green Corps and one of the most rewarding things was planting so many trees, in hot weather, rainy, cold…
It was just nice knowing that you were doing at least some good.
that is a good sample for everyone and i think we should all plant trees not only for the nature but it is relaxing when you want to have a vacation under the tree.
On ya, Ryan. It is heartening to see the young out there fighting for our future.
I spent some time in the Green Reserve, we planted trees on farms as windbreaks, grasses around dams and along the Torrens. This was a lot of fun. But mostly we spent time weeding, which meant clearing wild artichokes and olive trees from hillsides a mountain goat would think twice about, and out on Torrens Island(?) where we had to be alert for brown snakes and markers signifying aboriginal sacred stuff that we couldn’t touch. Not so much fun.
The sooner cattle are shifted back from river frontages and watered within the confines of titled land, the better off the river will be. What a mess after a mob of cattle have been to the river to drink ! .
Farmers surely realise the damage done to river banks by cattle and other stock, in search of finding water. In N S W the farmer owns right down to the waters edge. In Vic there is a 60 metres of public land, for the full length of the Murray River in that state.
Over all the years interested bodies have been allowd to rent public land along the victorian side of the River Murray, no effort at all has been spent on limiting the degradation of the river banks from the hooves of sheep and cattle. Time has come to put a stop to this type of vandalism, and regain the property which belongs to the people of the state of victoria.
I had no idea sheep and cattle were allowed to wander the riverbanks like that. obviously they’ve become part of the problem and something should be done. But what? How do we change things when the farmers themselves probably prefer this method to constructing their own dams and/or watering stations?
Cattle get themselves bogged in the river and drown. That 60 metre public land frontage to the Murray River in Victoria must be regained, grazing permits revoked, and titled land fenced at their boundary. Public land which has a grazing permit issued, [ which has an anual fee, but ongoing.] Public members are excluded from entering. It is an outdated and long overdue problem for the Murray river. The zoning is public river reserve.