Welcome to the 2019 Tree Planting season!
Amazingly, this morning’s hole digging and clean up morning went ahead as planned and our group of 18 volunteers braved light showers and mud.
Over 300 holes were dug by hand and augered in readiness for tomorrow’ student group tree planting.
Morning tea was held in the school car park (thanks Jill) and our Guest Speaker was Dr. Fiona Purcell regarding bacterial diseases that volunteers need to be aware of while working in the field during these wet season conditions – like Melioidosis and Leptospirosis. The take home message was – always dry bandage any cuts on your hands when working with the soil and amongst grasses, before putting on your gloves. If you do come down with a fever tell your doctor that you have been working in soil and grassy conditions so they know and can test accordingly. Thanks Fiona…a very relevant topic for our members.
We also welcomed Isabel Zorn from the JCU attend our activity who is completing a Masters in Tropical Biology and Conservation and would like to monitor our sites for species survival rates. Boyd and I will be working with Isabel over March to provide her with the data that she requires.
Tomorrow’s tree planting will be going ahead unless it is pouring rain so I will be there at 1.45pm if you would like to help out. Jobs will include placing trees and fertiliser beside the ready dug holes and helping students plant the perfect tree. We are meeting in the St. Andrews carpark….the students leave at 4pm.
- This project is supported by Treeforce, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
