SHEPPARTON has achieved a global milestone, planting the largest number of trees in the world under the One Tree Per Child program.
Costa Georgiadis from ABC’s Gardening Australia joined volunteers and students from 30 local schools in getting their hands dirty for the milestone planting.
“I’m blown away by the numbers. More than 100,000 trees have been planted across 34 different locations,” said Costa. “When I look at these trees that have been planted over the last 18 months to two years, and each one I’ve had a close look at, I’m talking close to a 100 percent success rate.”
ONE Tree Per Child was founded by Olivia Newton-John and Jon Dee, who also founded the highly successful National Tree Day Program.
Mr Dee said it was “incredibly exciting” to see Shepparton reach this milestone.
“Together with all the local community groups, landcare groups and volunteers in Greater Shepparton have planted more than 100,000 native trees, shrubs and grasses. That is going to make such a difference for the environment here.”
“The first city in the world to do One Tree Per Child was Bristol in England. They’ve done 75,000 trees over there,” he said.
“That’s habitat for wildlife, but it also helps kids to connect with the earth and helping kids connect with the environment as well,” Jon said.
Since the initiative launched in Shepparton in 2016, schools have planted trees at more than 100 sites, with the help of Council and landcare groups.
“I actually thought 10,000 [trees] was quite a good aspiration … it’s exceeded our expectations,” Greater Shepparton City Council Mayor Kim O’Keeffe said.
But now they’ve reached one milestone, they’re already planning the next one — another 100,000 trees over the next four years.
Cr O’Keeffe said she plans to write to mayors across Australia, encouraging them to join the initiative.
“I think we should be sharing successes, and it’s not just for our region, it’s for our state and our country,” she said.
