Wagga Wagga City Council’s Environment Team is celebrating this week after being nominated for a Local Government NSW ‘Excellence in the Environment’ award.
Council has been nominated in the Communication, Education and Empowerment category for the One Tree for Me initiative, which aims to see 65,000 native seedlings planted throughout our local area over a six-year period – roughly one tree for every resident.
One Tree for Me is now in its second year, with more than 22,978 seedlings planted so far.
Environment Education Officer Christina Reid said the team was thrilled to be nominated.
“One Tree for Me has been so successful because our local community has embraced it wholeheartedly,” Ms Reid said.
“A large percentage of our available land is locked up in backyards and properties. The more residents we have planting native seedlings on their land, the bigger difference we can make to our region’s biodiversity.”
Ms Reid said a key threat to biodiversity is the clearing of native vegetation. Replanting this vegetation is an important step in repairing the damage.
“This will create the habitat to support populations of native fauna by providing foraging and shelter habitat and also create stepping stones for species to move throughout the environment,” Ms Reid said.
“We’d like to thank every resident and every school who helped plant seedlings this year; it’s a whole-of-community approach that is going to make the difference.”
Since the One Tree for Me program began in 2021, Council has:
- hosted 8 free seedling giveaways across Wagga Wagga
- hosted 2 community tree planting activities on community land
- supported 64 preschools / schools through Planet Ark’s Schools Tree Day campaign.
The Environment team is already planning One Tree for Me seedling giveaways for 2023 and is seeking feedback from everyone who attended a seedling giveaway this year. You can take the survey at surveymonkey.com/r/MKBYZK3
The Excellence in Environment Awards reflects the diversity of sustainability action being undertaken by NSW councils, with 29 finalists across 13 award categories. Winners will be announced at the awards event on Tuesday 6 December in Sydney.
