Published on Tuesday, 7 September 2021 at 10:59:55 AM

On Thursday, 5 August, three Shire staff along with five community volunteers completed a tree planting day along the Burracoppin—Campion Road in the Shire of Merredin.

This tree planting day was held as part of the Shire's Recovering Roadside Conservation Values Pilot Project, which is supported by funding from the Western Australian Government’s State NRM Program. 

The group met at Apex Park at 9am for morning tea and a coffee before setting off on a 45-minute bus ride to the outskirts of the Shire.

Here, volunteers and staff were Welcomed to Country by Njaki Njaki elder Mick Hayden, before the Shire’s Natural Resource Management Officer, Dylan Copeland, briefed the group about the tree planters they would be using and where they would be planting.

Approximately 1000 trees were planted along the roadside, including salmon gum, tan wattle, jam trees, native apricots, boree and salt bush.

Burracoppin–Campion Road was selected as the location of this project because of its low amount of vegetation, its proximity to existing remnants of vegetation, and the relatively low use of the road by traffic meant it was a safe place for volunteers to plant.  

Mr Copeland said, “Roadside vegetation faces a lot of threats, which is a shame because it is the most accessible way to view the wide range of species that exist in the Shire of Merredin.

“In a highly cleared and fragmented landscape, roadsides are important areas of biodiversity that can perform important ecological functions.”

The Shire would like to thank the volunteers on the day, Roy Butler, Mal Harper, Kerry Brown, Mick Hayden, and Glen Buder for their contributions to the project.

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