Forty volunteers from Perth companies joined the Trillion Trees team to plant trees along the Helena River (Mandoon Bilya) on Friday 3 July.
Representatives from Starlight Property, Boart Longyear, Aecom and Quest Hotels planted 3280 native trees and plants in a few hours. Quest Hotels are members of the Hotels for Trees program, where visitors can choose to skip their room cleaning for a day and plant a tree instead. Hotels for Trees is a non profit foundation which began in the Netherlands and now operates across the globe in partnership with planting partners like Trillion Trees.
The Helena River is an ephemeral (seasonal) river which flows behind the Trillion Trees community nursery in Hazelmere. A state asset of great natural beauty, the stunning Helena River landscape is locally and internationally recognised for its natural, cultural and historic values.
Participants enjoyed the opportunity to plant on the river banks into augered holes. The planting plan for this area includes a range of small shrubs and ground cover species to increase biodiversity and provide habitat for a diversity of small birds, insects, mammals and more. The area is known habitat for snake necked turtles, with four hatchlings recently observed emerging from a protected nest on Trillion Trees grounds.
During the planting session, participants learnt about the wildlife and the wider ecosystem from Trillion Trees Restoration Manager, Doug Laurie. The Trillion Trees team have been planting along the Helena River for 40 years, enriching the riparian zone and taking great strides to heal the landscape for generations to enjoy.
