Reforestation projects in Australia

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Context

Australia has 134 million hectares of forest, equivalent to 17% of its land area and 3% of the world’s total forests. Of this, 132 million hectares are native forest, ranging from ancient Gondwana Rainforests and tropical mangroves to extensive bushlands that consist of native acacia, eucalyptus and melaleuca trees. 

These forests are unique and varied, however they are under increasing threat of destruction. The combination of low precipitation and record high temperatures during Australia’s 2019-20 summer season resulted in dramatic wildfires that drew global attention. These fires burned 21% of temperate broadleaf and mixed forest, compared to an average of 2% in a normal bushfire season. In addition to forests and vegetation being lost, over 1 billion animal casualties occured, for example, an estimated 60,000 koalas were killed, injured or affected in some way. Reforestation is essential in recovering lost species populations, as well as rebuilding their habitat. 

Ecologi funds projects across Australia to plant trees in areas where they have been lost, helping the habitats to recover, restoring biodiversity, supporting local communities, and sucking in CO2 from the atmosphere. 

 

Our Tree-planting Partners 

We are partnered with One Tree Planted (OTP) –  a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental charity. OTP started in 2014 and since then has more than doubled the number of trees planted year after year. They now work with incredible reforestation partners all over the world, helping us to get trees in the ground.

One Tree Planted have a number of reforestation projects across Australia. Our funding goes to their general Australian fund and is split between these projects, wherever the need is the greatest.  

 

Projects 

The tree-planting projects include bushfire recovery nurseries, creating habitat corridors for koalas in New South Wales and Victoria, enhancing biodiversity in Western Australia, and promoting sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices with landowners. Efforts are focused on mobilising support for replanting efforts, developing nurseries and planting millions of trees. 

 

Example Project: Bushfire Recovery Nurseries 

OTP, in partnership with the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, have launched a project to plant 1 million trees in bushfire recovery nurseries across Australia, to replace and replenish vegetation that has been lost. 

Seedlings will be established from indigenous tree species, propagated in these nurseries, and planted regionally in national parks across Australia, as well as other republic and private lands that have been affected by bushfires. The first nurseries have recently been established in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia.  

Growing seedlings in nurseries allows the team to keep a close eye on the baby trees during their most vulnerable stages, growing them until they are strong enough, and then planting them out in the wild. 

This is an ambitious five-year project, which will focus on the following bushfire recovery priority regions:  

• Region 1: Mount Lofty to Kangaroo island Connection in South Australia

• Region 2: New South Wales Coast to Victoria Gippsland Corridor 

• Region 3: Gondwana Rainforest World Heritage area in New South Wales and Queensland

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Impact 

– Biodiversity 

As well as recovering fire-damaged lands, your support for reforestation projects in Australia will help restore habitats for native species that depend on these environments, such as koalas, echidnas, sugar gliders, and other wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world. 

– Communities 

OTP tree planting projects have a focus on engaging with communities that have been impacted by bushfires. They believe that the best way to look after Australian wilderness and wildlife is to work with the communities themselves, and the projects we fund work with local landowners and environmental organisations to improve the health of Australian forests and bushlands. 

 

Tree species 

All trees that are grown are native to the area, and are chosen specifically for the project depending on the needs of each habitat being restored. Species are selected that will bring the greatest overall benefit to the ecosystem and region, and depending on the area may include: 

• Acacia

• Banksia

• Eucalyptus 

• Melaleuca
  
  …and many others!