Greening Australia

Last updated

Greening Australia
Founded1982
PurposeAustralian environmental management
Location
  • Brisbane, Australia
Area served
Australia
MethodScience guided revegetation
Key people
Brendan Foran CEO
Employees
150+ [1]
Volunteers
Over 7,000 in 2019 [2]
Website greeningaustralia.org.au

Greening Australia is an Australian environmental organisation, founded in 1982, the International Year of the Tree, to protect, restore and conserve Australia's native vegetation. Greening Australia was formed by the United Nations Association of Australia and the Nursery Industry Association of Australia.

Contents

In the 1980s tree cover decline was acknowledged as having a serious adverse impact on agricultural and pastoral productivity. Removal of tree cover was also linked with the development of salinity, soil degradation and erosion, and declining water quality. On World Environment Day in 1982, then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser announced the establishment of the National Tree Program, which aimed to reverse tree decline throughout Australia. Greening Australia provided the non-government arm of the National Tree Program. With representation in every state and territory and a national office in Canberra, Greening Australia became the primary focus for non-government tree projects.

Plaque at Cook, South Australia, commemorating the planting of 600 trees in the town by school children and Men of the Trees in 1982 - the International Year of the Tree - and the inauguration of Greening Australia Cook (AU), "Men of the Trees" -- 2019 -- 0641.jpg
Plaque at Cook, South Australia, commemorating the planting of 600 trees in the town by school children and Men of the Trees in 1982 – the International Year of the Tree – and the inauguration of Greening Australia

Since its inception, Greening Australia has undergone a natural evolution – from a focus on trees to a focus on landscape. The Gondwana Link and River Recovery projects reflect this change and the need to address the impacts of climate change.

Greening Australia has been involved in many large scale revegetation and restoration projects in Australia since its inception, including the National Tree Program, the One Billion Trees Project, Bushcare Support, National Corrdiors of Green, Florabank and Green Corps. The focus of its work lies in providing trees and tree planting services, technical advice and education, volunteer co-ordination and funding for restoration projects.

On World Environment Day 1998, Greening Australia's work was recognised with admission to the United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Roll of Honour. This award recognises outstanding achievements in protection of the environment, and represents a significant achievement for Australia's role in world conservation.

Current projects

Greening Australia's mission is to conserve and restore landscapes at scale through collaborative, science-based and innovative conservation programs. The organisation has set bold 2030 goals to align their five national programs with global restoration targets. These goals include: [3]

Great Southern Landscapes

Since European settlement, agricultural landscapes in southern Australia have lost over 80% of their natural habitat, impacting on threatened species and the productivity of Australia's farmlands.

To help threatened plants and wildlife, and combat global climate change, Greening Australia are working across southern Australia's unique landscapes, integrating large-scale re-afforestation and carbon sinks into farming systems to create healthy, productive landscapes for people and nature. [4]

Gondwana Link is one of the largest and most ambitious conservation projects in Australia's history. Designed to protect and restore land across and adjoining the nation's only global renowned biodiversity hotspot, the completed link will be an arc of bushland stretching for 1000 kilometres, from the wet forests in Western Australia's far southwest to the edge of the Nullarbor Plain. Greening Australia is working alongside a host of partners on this project, including Bush Heritage Australia and The Nature Conservancy.

The Living Flinders program covers 1.3 million hectares of internationally significant landscape in the Southern Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It is a national hotspot for native plants and animals including the endangered Yellow-Footed Rock-wallaby and supports critically endangered Peppermint Box and Grey Box Grassy Woodlands. The project aims to increase conservation efforts on privately held land as well as reduce invasion by feral species and reconnect existing reserve systems. It is a ten-year project that calls for a $30m investment. Living Flinders is also part of the SA Government's Naturelinks program as well as an important component of the Trans Australia Eco-link.

Reef Aid

Climate change and poor water quality are the greatest threats to the future of the Great Barrier Reef. Greening Australia is addressing both through its Great Southern Landscapes and Reef Aid programs. Reef Aid works with landholders, communities and Traditional Owners to improve water quality for the Reef by rebuilding gullies and restoring coastal wetlands across the catchment. [5]

Nature in Cities

As climate change and population growth intensify pressures on our urban areas, Greening Australia are working with communities, businesses and governments across Australia to create greener, more liveable cities and urban areas where both people and nature thrive. The program aims to bring nature back to our cities and urban fringes by restoring natural ecosystems and urban tree canopy cover for wildlife; improving water quality in our rivers and wetlands; building green corridors to help meet carbon neutral targets and creating open spaces for recreation. [6]

Tasmania Island Ark

Tasmania is Australia's last refuge for some of Australia's most critically endangered animals – species that are now virtually extinct on the mainland including the Tasmanian Devil, Eastern Bettong, Eastern Quoll and Eastern Barred Bandicoot.

Together with landholders, Tasmania Island Ark is working to recreate 15,000 ha of habitat across the Tasmanian midlands to create a stronghold for endangered wildlife and reconnect people and nature, while revitalising local farming communities. [7]

Thriving on country

Traditional knowledge plays an essential role in conservation and in managing country. Thriving on Country is Greening Australia's organisation-wide commitment to a stronger, reconciled Australia. The organisation partners with Indigenous communities across Australia to bring together traditional and contemporary knowledge, exchange skills, increase employment opportunities and support people to live and work on country. [8]

Past Projects

Saltshaker

The Saltshaker Project was an initiative of Greening Australia, SE NSW, the Boorowa Regional Catchment Committee, and Boorowa Council, in association with the Boorowa Landcare Network, to tackle dryland salinity, reduced water quality, and biodiversity in Boorowa, New South Wales. It was funded by the Natural Heritage Trust, and involved nearly 70 landowners. [9]

Bushfire Crisis

On 13 January 2020, the Australian Government announced an initial $50m investment in an emergency response to the devastating Australian bushfires for wildlife and habitat recovery. $5 million of this initial investment will see Greening Australia lead the development of a strategic program to build and secure native seed and plant supply for landscape restoration, recovery and resilience in bushfire impacted areas and other vulnerable landscapes. [10]

Publications

Greening Australia has published numerous books on native Australian vegetation, including several authored by South Australian ethnobotanist, Neville Bonney.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest National Park</span> National park in Tasmania, Australia

Southwest National Park is an Australian national park located in the south-west of Tasmania, bounded by the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park to the north and the Hartz Mountains National Park to the east. It is a part of a chain of national parks and state reserves that make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Covering an area of 6,183 km2 (2,387 sq mi), it is Tasmania's largest national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park</span> Protected area in Victoria, Australia

The Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park is a national park that is located in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia. The 21,650-hectare (53,500-acre) national park is situated approximately 275 kilometres (171 mi) northeast of Melbourne, and extends west from Beechworth across the Hume Freeway and the Albury-Melbourne railway line to the west of Chiltern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation in Australia</span>

Conservation in Australia is an issue of state and federal policy. Australia is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, with a large portion of species endemic to Australia. Preserving this wealth of biodiversity is important for future generations. 25% of Australia is managed for conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salinity in Australia</span>

Soil salinity and dryland salinity are two problems degrading the environment of Australia. Salinity is a concern in most states, but especially in the south-west of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Wildlife Federation</span> U.S. nonprofit environmental organization

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations (including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reconciliation ecology</span> Study of maintaining biodiversity in human-dominated ecosystems

Reconciliation ecology is the branch of ecology which studies ways to encourage biodiversity in the human-dominated ecosystems of the anthropocene era. Michael Rosenzweig first articulated the concept in his book Win-Win Ecology, based on the theory that there is not enough area for all of earth's biodiversity to be saved within designated nature preserves. Therefore, humans should increase biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes. By managing for biodiversity in ways that do not decrease human utility of the system, it is a "win-win" situation for both human use and native biodiversity. The science is based in the ecological foundation of human land-use trends and species-area relationships. It has many benefits beyond protection of biodiversity, and there are numerous examples of it around the globe. Aspects of reconciliation ecology can already be found in management legislation, but there are challenges in both public acceptance and ecological success of reconciliation attempts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife Trust of India</span>

The Wildlife Trust of India is an Indian nature conservation organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land clearing in Australia</span>

Land clearing in Australia describes the removal of native vegetation and deforestation in Australia. Land clearing involves the removal of native vegetation and habitats, including the bulldozing of native bushlands, forests, savannah, woodlands and native grasslands and the draining of natural wetlands for replacement with agriculture, urban and other land uses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earthwatch Institute</span> Scientific field research institute

Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity. It was founded in 1971 as Educational Expeditions International by Bob Citron and Clarence Truesdale. Earthwatch Institute supports Ph.D. researchers internationally and conducts over 100,000 hours of research annually. Using the Citizen Science methodology, Earthwatch's mission statement is "to engage people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment." As such, it is one of the global underwriters of scientific field research in archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over forty years, Earthwatch has raised funds to recruit individuals, students, teachers, and corporate fellows to participate in critical field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rewilding (conservation biology)</span> Restoring of wilderness environments

Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also distinct from other forms of restoration in that, while it places emphasis on recovering geographically specific sets of ecological interactions and functions that would have maintained ecosystems prior to human influence, rewilding is open to novel or emerging ecosystems which encompass new species and new interactions.

The San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex is located in the northern San Joaquin Valley, within Merced County and Stanislaus County of California. The complex, with four federal National Wildlife Refuges, is managed by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of environmental articles</span>

The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary</span> Protected area in Australian Capital Territory

Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary is a protected area situated in the Gungahlin district in north Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It has several trails for walking, running and cycling. The sanctuary functions as a fieldwork site for researchers studying native ecology.

The San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area of along the San Joaquin River in the northern San Joaquin Valley, California. It is within San Joaquin County and Stanislaus County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oyster reef restoration</span> Process of rebuilding or restoring of oyster reefs

Oyster reef restoration refers to the reparation and reconstruction of degraded oyster reefs. Environmental changes, modern fishing practices, over harvesting, water pollution, and other factors, have resulted in damage, disease, and ultimately, a large decline in global population and prevalence of oyster habitats. Aside from ecological importance, oyster farming is an important industry in many regions around the world. Both natural and artificial materials have been used in efforts to increase population and regenerate reefs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicago Wilderness</span>

Chicago Wilderness is a regional alliance of more than 250 different organizations that work together to improve the quality of life of the individuals and the many other species living in the Chicago (Illinois) area. Through the restoration and sustenation of the biological diversity that once encompassed the lands, their fundamental objective, to preserve the naturally occurring lands and waters in that region, is being made a reality. Through these activities, Chicago Wilderness played a major role in protecting and replenishing the naturally occurring ecosystems in the Chicago area as well as motivating people to become more aware and involved in the preservation of these lands and waters. Chicago Wilderness had continued to blossom through the funding and donations of many sources including private contributions, the member organizations, and state and federal grants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest restoration</span>

Forest restoration is defined as “actions to re-instate ecological processes, which accelerate recovery of forest structure, ecological functioning and biodiversity levels towards those typical of climax forest” i.e. the end-stage of natural forest succession. Climax forests are relatively stable ecosystems that have developed the maximum biomass, structural complexity and species diversity that are possible within the limits imposed by climate and soil and without continued disturbance from humans. Climax forest is therefore the target ecosystem, which defines the ultimate aim of forest restoration. Since climate is a major factor that determines climax forest composition, global climate change may result in changing restoration aims. Additionally, the potential impacts of climate change on restoration goals must be taken into account, as changes in temperature and precipitation patterns may alter the composition and distribution of climax forests.

Texan by Nature, originally formed in 2011 as Taking Care of Texas, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focusing on uniting business and conservation. Texan by Nature is headquartered at Austin, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trees For Life (Australia)</span> Charity

Trees For Life is a registered charity that protects and restores land in the bush, farms, and urban areas of South Australia. It runs many programs, the oldest involving volunteers growing seeds into small plants for planting by farmers and other landholders. It was formed in 1981 and now has 2000 volunteers.

Nigel Sharp is an Australian conservationist and biodiversity impact investor known for his work on the continent of Australia with threatened species conservation, new business models of regenerative agriculture and urbanism, nature-based tourism, and indigenous enterprise development.

References

  1. "About Us". Greening Australia.
  2. Year in Review 2019 Greening Australia
  3. "Greening Australia - Greening Australia".
  4. "Great Southern Landscapes - Greening Australia - Greening Australia".
  5. "Reef Aid - Greening Australia - Greening Australia".
  6. "Nature in Cities - Greening Australia - Greening Australia".
  7. "Tasmania Island Ark - Greening Australia - Greening Australia".
  8. "Thriving on Country - Greening Australia - Greening Australia".
  9. "Boorowa's Saltshaker". Natural Heritage – The Journal of the Natural Heritage Trust. Archived from the original on 2 July 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2005.
  10. "Greening Australia to lead $5M native seed and restoration program as part of bushfire recovery - Greening Australia - Greening Australia". 13 January 2020.