3/4 of our 2021 target of 20,000 You Yangs trees are planted! Only 5000 to go….
Early 2021 Koala Clancy Foundation set a target to plant 20,000 koala trees in the You Yangs region, southern Australia, over 2021. We knew it was ambitious – we’d only planted 9000 in one season before – but the land was ready and the trees were ordered, we had an enthusiastic team and a wet year, so why not?
Plus, 20,000 in one season gets us closer to our ultimate goal: 300,000 koala trees by 2030.
Now, with one month to go, we have successfully planted 14,667 koala trees in the valleys of the Little, Barwon and Moorabool Rivers near Geelong, Victoria. At this rate we will achieve, or even exceed, our target of 20,000 trees in a season to give our You Yangs koalas a future.
UPDATE 19 September 2021: We ended the You Yangs season with 25,257 koala trees planted in the Geelong region, exceeding our target by over 5000 trees. Planting continues in East Gippsland.
It hasn’t been without challenges. Our first two community plantings in early June had to be cancelled due to a covid outbreak in Australia. Uncertainty affected our volunteer numbers for the next three weeks, which halved our planting rate. By mid July, we were back to normal participation, then covid struck again. That lockdown lifted quickly, in time for us to plant 1500 trees with 30 volunteers on National Tree Day, 1 August.
Throughout all of these lockdowns, our amazing team have planted trees until their arms were sore and their knees were wobbly. You can pick a Koala Clancy team member from their lean figure and muscly shoulders (not to mention their dirty fingernails).
We started August 2021 with 9796 trees planted, under half, but hoping for an easy slide to the finish line with lots of volunteer help. Oh well…
Covid struck again. We have been locked down now for two weeks, though regional Victorians are still able to participate. Eleven Geelong, Lara and Ballarat voluntheroes came out on Sunday 15 August and planted tirelessly. It was like they were planting one for themselves and another for a locked-down, frustrated Melbourne tree planter.
We were thrilled and excited in 2021 to have the support of 13 corporate and educational teams. Fortunately many of them found a window to participate between lockdowns – thankyou to Hoxton MPM, TravelManagers Australia, CIS Australia, Reptile Encounters, Deakin University, Rowville Secondary College and Woodline Primary School – all helped plant thousands of trees for koalas.
We are still hoping to take teams from Aesop Australia, CAT Australia/One Tree Planted, nDeva and Crusoe College tree planting – these organisations have remained determined through multiple reschedules.
Thanks to National Credit Insurance for booking tree planting days, we are so disappointed they had to be cancelled but nothing could be done. Hopefully next year!
There is still time, covid willing, to plant trees with us before the tree planting season ends in mid September.
We couldn’t have made it this far without the support of our donors & supporters:
Major sponsor: Binance Charity
Binance Charity has funded the planting of 20,000 trees in the You Yangs region, and another 20,000 in East Gippsland. Read more: https://www.binance.charity/Restoring-Australia-Habitats
Other donors:
City of Greater Geelong: Koala Clancy Foundation successfully applied for an Environmental Sustainability Grant
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Fifteen Trees
TAP wines
One Tree Planted
Melbourne Water: several of our landowners have qualified for the Stream Frontage Management Program
Particular thanks to our contractors and suppliers who have been flexible, helpful and thorough:
Kingfisher Environmental Services
Bili Nursery (Westgate Biodiversity)
Rowsley Nursery (Moorabool Landcare)
A very special thankyou to our team who are superheroes: Maria-Eduarda Borges, Kirby Leary, Hayley Forster, Peta Coward, Ethan McDonald and Eliza Anderson.
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LINKS
Donors & sponsors:
https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/
https://amazingthailand.com.au/
Corporate Supporters:
https://www.cisaustralia.com.au/
https://www.travelmanagers.com.au/
https://www.reptileencounters.com.au/
https://www.cat.com/en_AU.html
Educational Supporters:
https://woodlineprimary.com.au/
https://www.rowvillesc.vic.edu.au/
http://www.crusoecollege.vic.edu.au/
