Nevinson Road, VIC

Nearly 3,000 native trees were planted at Nevinson Road in July 2019 to take climate action, increase the property’s biodiversity and extend wildlife habitat.

This isn’t the first time that we have worked with this landholder. In 2009 we worked to revegetate another property of theirs in Wedderburn, Victoria called Ploughshare. This planting became part of a growing forest that adjoins Skinners Flat Reserve, Bush Heritage Australia's Nardoo Hills Reserve, the Woosang Block and Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve.

The Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC) of the existing vegetation at Nevinson Road consists of Grassy Woodland, which is considered vulnerable, Plains Woodland which is endangered and Box Ironbark which is depleted. When it came to the planting on this site, the tree species were specifically chosen as they are endemic to the area. One of these, Grey Box (Eucalyptus microcarpa), also makes up some of the existing vegetation on the site. This species is found in the Box Ironbark, Plains Woodlands and Grassy Woodland areas of the property.

Generally, when Greenfleet undertakes a reforestation project such as this, we ensure that the trees are protected for 100 years. Due to the landholder's dedication to restoring their land, this protection extended to the existing trees which are already providing vital habitat for native wildlife.

This is an exciting site when it comes to native wildlife too, especially for birdlife. Eoghan O’Connor, Greenfleet’s Land Strategy Manager, recalled a pair of Tawny Frogmouths he encountered when he first visited the site (pictured to the left). “The existing vegetation here is already being used for the nesting of these birds and we hope that the trees planted will expand their habitat,” said Eoghan.

An added benefit of the trees planted is that they will be able to extend the existing habitat for wildlife such as the Tawny Frogmouth and Brush-tailed Phascogales, while hopefully increasing the animals found in the area. Working with the Landholder and Landcare, it is also Greenfleet’s hope that the site will be used as a release point for the Stonebush Curlew in the future. This native bird species is critically endangered in the area and the forest will provide potential habitat for future populations of the species.

As well as Grey Box, other tree species planted at Nevinson Road include Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii), Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata), Silky Hakea (Hakea sericea) and the Dusty Daisy Bush (Olearia phlogopappa). You can refer to the full species list to the righthand side of this page.

While this forest is young, one of the most important roles it will play is in taking climate action. Over their lifetime the trees planted will absorb more than 670 tonnes of CO2-e from the atmosphere. That is similar to removing more than 150 average cars from the road for a whole year!