Ready to walk in a winter wonderland of native plants? National Tree Day is Sunday 30th July, and it just has that ‘Christmas in July’ feeling. We’d love to invite you, and your friends and family, to come along and celebrate this important day with us.
Event details:
- Where: Porters Creek Wetland & Killcare Beach
- When: 9am-1pm, Sunday 30th July 2023
- Register on the day or log your interest at https://treeday.planetark.org/
Since its inception by Planet Ark in 1996, National Tree Day (NTD) has become Australia’s largest tree-planting event, with over 26 million trees planted by over 5 million volunteers.
Last year on the Central Coast over 120 individuals participated across the two sites of Porters Creek and Umina’s Ocean Beach and we were able to plant over 2,000 locally sourced plants. It was a huge success and a beautiful day out contributing towards our environment and community.
In 2023, National Tree Day will be held on Sunday 30th July. Central Coast Council’s Environmental Volunteer Program will be facilitating two community planting events at Killcare Beach and Porters Creek Wetland. The two sites represent very different environments, with both being ecologically important in terms of biodiversity and sustainability.
At Killcare Beach, like many areas along the coast, there has been a significant reduction in dune vegetation. Native dune vegetation is the first line of defence against coastal erosion and provides important habitat for wildlife. Ongoing planting events such as NTD at Killcare Beach will help improve the ability of the dune systems to withstand storms, extreme weather and help protect adjacent homes and other infrastructure.
Dune vegetation also significantly contributes to biodiversity. Plantings will provide habitat and food sources for fauna native to the region. Established native vegetation also prevents other unwanted species, like Bitou Bush, from thriving in exposed sand dunes.
Porters Creek Wetland plays a key role in the water quality of Tuggerah Lakes by filtering stormwater runoff before it enters the estuary. Since 2013, Council’s Environmental Volunteer Program (EVP) has been involved with restoration works at Porters Creek Wetland (PCW).
The EVP held its first National Tree Day planting at PCW in 2019, where a small but passionate group of community members planted 600 native species to help improve the quality and area of the streambank vegetation corridor
At the end of 2019, the EVP was successful in applying for a grant through Local Land Services to supplement restoration works already undertaken at PCW and continue community involvement through NTD planting events, with the aim of improving the habitat for the endangered Swift Parrot. After a couple of hard years with little activity due to COVID-19, 2021 saw the return of plantings at PCW with corporate volunteering events. For this year’s National Tree Day we are going a little bigger, aiming to expand the experience to a wider audience.
To complement ongoing planting throughout the day at both Porters Creek and Killcare Beach sites, the events will also include environmental education workshops and stall holders from local environmental organisations including NSW Rural Fire Service, Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Local Land Services, Ocean and Coastal Care Initiatives, animal displays and more. Live musicians will also be playing throughout the morning.
While every day can be Tree Day, this event helps raise awareness of the importance of protecting our environment and is a call to action to get your hands dirty and give back to the community.
This year we are setting ourselves a goal of planting over 3000 plants on NTD so we will need all of the help that we can get on the day. These plants have all been grown specifically for the Killcare Beach and Porters Creek sites by volunteers working at Council’s nursery.
We hope you can make it one of the sites this year and celebrate National Tree Day in native winter wonderland style.
Please enjoy (and cringe) as you sing along to ‘Winter Wonderland’…native plant version
Killcare bells are you listening,
On the dunes, sand is glistening,
It’s a beautiful way,
To celebrate National Tree Day,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
At Porters Creek, join the frivolity,
And contribute to improved water quality,
It’s a beautiful way,
To celebrate National Tree Day,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
In the dunes, we can restore vegetation,
See our native flora and fauna thrive.
They’ll say, did you plant that?
We’ll say, of course man,
So you can enjoy the biodiversity come alive.
Gone away is the minor bird,
Here to stay is the Swift bird,
Planting native trees,
Including swamp mahogany.
Walking in a winter wonderland.
At Porters Creek, we can restore vegetation,
See our native flora and fauna thrive.
They’ll say, did you plant that?
We’ll say, of course man,
So you can enjoy the biodiversity come alive.
Later on, we'll conspire
With the whole Central Coast shire,
We’ll plant native all the way,
On National Tree Day,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
This article was written by Carlita Dhillon, Environmental Education Officer and Ben Feltham, Environmental Volunteer Program Officer