Expanding Threatened Ecosystems To Restore Habitat

This forest is growing on Bundjalung Country, west of Nimbin in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. Greenfleet is planting native species to support the return of several ecological communities that have been previously cleared. This includes two threatened communities consisting of very tall, dense rainforest.

Greenfleet has planted over 80 different native species that will support various endangered and vulnerable fauna, including koalas and grey-headed flying foxes.

Location & Map

Three Cedars is located west of Byron Bay, near Nimbin, NSW. It sits west of Nightcap National Park and has Cabbage Tree Creek running through the property. This project is restoring threatened Plant Community Types of Northern Lowland Subtropical Rainforest and Far North Basalt Gully Dry Rainforest.

Three Cedars is one of several restoration projects underway in NSW, including Greentrees, which is growing critical habitat for the local koala population.

SEE GREENFLEET'S REVEGETATION PROJECTS ACROSS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND HERE

Revegetation To Support Biodiversity

The landholder at Three Cedars, Dr Kitty van Vuuren, purchased this site specifically to restore the property and live surrounded by rainforest. After several years of dedicated restoration, she reached out to Greenfleet to assist with her environmental goal.

Four different Plant Community Types (PCTs) existed on the property prior to clearing. Greenfleet carefully researched and sourced over 80 different locally native species to support the complex biodiversity values of this region and to help restore the riparian corridors that connect with nearby rainforests.

Two of these PCTs are threatened - the Northern Lowland Subtropical Rainforest and the Far North Basalt Gully Dry Rainforest. The threatened ecosystem of northern lowland subtropical rainforest is highly diverse and Greenfleet is replicating this community by planting a wide variety of flora including native palm trees like the Bangalow palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamii).

The return of Far North Basalt Gully Dry Rainforest is being supported by planting forest red gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) and glossy laurel (Cryptocarya obovata).

Greenfleet also planted the endangered small-leaved tamarind (Dipoglottis campbellii), a rainforest tree that is endemic to the region and is now threatened due to land clearing. It grows up to 30 metres tall and bears red, edible sour fruit and by planting this species we are supporting its ongoing survival.

Drones were utilised in the site assessment and restoration processes, assisting with the efficiency of our approach.

Learn more about the ways Greenfleet is using technology in our work. 
Aerial view of a vineyard with rows of plants and a mountainous landscape in the background.

Restoring Habitat For Koalas And Other Threatened Species

As the forest at Three Cedars develops, wildlife from the nearby Nightcap National Park will be able to utilise it. By planting such diverse species, the forests will restore biodiversity and provide habitat for a wide range of fauna.

The area is known for several vulnerable bird species including the rose-crowned fruit dove and the pale-vented bush-hen. The forest at Three Cedars is legally protected for 100 years, ensuring vital habitat for these species and other birdlife, allowing them to feed and breed for generations to come.

Koalas are endangered in NSW and the forest red gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis) and small-fruited grey gum (Eucalyptus propinqua) planted at Three Cedars will extend vital habitat for these iconic animals. Grey-headed flying foxes are also listed as vulnerable and as these eucalypts and other tall trees develop, they will provide a haven for their populations.

To improve the riparian areas around Cabbage Tree Creek, which flows into Goolmangar Creek, we have planted Bennet’s ash (Flindersia bennettii), snow wood (Parachidendron pruinosum) and cabbage tree palm (Livistona australis), after which the creek was named. By restoring these species once removed from the catchment, they will develop to help reduce soil erosion, which in turn will improve the creek’s water quality.

The giant barred frog is a vulnerable species known to the region. Improving the water quality may encourage its return to Three Cedars. The restoration of the riparian areas will also enhance potential habitat for other species known to inhabit Goolmangar Creek, like platypuses and native fish.

Climate Action

The forest growing at Three Cedars is legally protected for 100 years. Over that time, it will remove over 8,600 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere, which is the equivalent of what almost 2,000 average vehicles emit on Australia’s roads in a single year. 

Greenfleet uses the Full Carbon Accounting Model (FullCAM) to measure the carbon uptake at each of our revegetation sites. Designed by the CSIRO, this model helps us understand how much carbon will be sequestered over the protection period. Our carbon estate is also assured by a government accredited carbon auditor.

Location Size 

12 hectares near Nimbin, NSW  

Planting Dates 

2025 

Species

  1. Southern salwood (Acacia disparimma) 
  2. Brisbane wattle (Acacia fimbriata) 
  3. Green wattle (Acacia irrorata) 
  4. Maiden's wattle (Acacia maidenii) 
  5. Australian blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) 
  6. Lilly pilly (Acmena smithii) 
  7. White aspen (Acronychia oblongifolia) 
  8. White bean (Ailanthus triphysa) 
  9. Rose she-oak (Allocasuarina torulosa) 
  10. Red ash (Alphitonia excelsa) 
  11. Broad-leaved apple (Angophora subvelutina) 
  12. Native elm (Aphananthe philippinensis) 
  13. Hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) 
  14. Bangalow palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamii) 
  15. White booyong (Argyrodendron trifoliolatum) 
  16. Willow bottlebrush (Calistemon salignus) 
  17. Weeping bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis) 
  18. Moreton Bay chestnut (Castanospermum australe) 
  19. Brown tamarind (Castanospermum alphandi) 
  20. River she-oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana) 
  21. Swamp she-oak (Casuarina glauca) 
  22. Brown kurrajong (Commersonia bartramia) 
  23. Glossy laurel (Cryptocaria laevigata) 
  24. Pepperberry (Cryptocarya obovata) 
  25. Three-veined laurel (Cryptocarya triplinervis) 
  26. Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) 
  27. Broad-leaved tamarind (Diploglottis australis) 
  28. Koda (Dipoglottis campbellii) 
  29. Red bean (Dysoxylum mollissimum) 
  30. Koda (Ehretia acuminata) 
  31. Blue quandong (Elaeocarpus grandis) 
  32. Bat's wing coral tree (Erythrina vespertilio) 
  33. White mahogany (Eucalyptus acmenoides) 
  34. Flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis) 
  35. Tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys) 
  36. Grey gum (Eucalyptus propinqua) 
  37. Swamp mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta) 
  38. Grey ironbark (Eucalyptus siderophloia) 
  39. Forest red gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis) 
  40. Creek sandpaper fig (Ficus coronata) 
  41. Sandpaper fig (Ficus fraseri) 
  42. Moreton bay fig (Ficus macrophylla) 
  43. Small-leaved fig (Ficus obliqua) 
  44. Port Jackson fig (Ficus rubignosa) 
  45. White fig (Ficus virens ssp Superba) 
  46. Crow’s ash (Flinders australis) 
  47. Bennet’s ash (Flindersia bennettii) 
  48. Cudgerie (Flindersia schottiana) 
  49. Buttonwood (Glochidion ferdinandii) 
  50. Brown buttonwood (Glochidion sumatranum) 
  51. White beech (Gmelina leichardtii) 
  52. Silky oak (Grevillea robusta) 
  53. Tulipwood (Harpullia pendula) 
  54. Native hibiscus (Hibiscus heterophyllus) 
  55. Bleeding heart (Homalanthus populifolia) 
  56. Native frangipani (Hymenosporum flavum) 
  57. Cabbage tree palm (Livistona australis) 
  58. Brush box (Lophostemon confertus) 
  59. Swamp Box (Lophostemon suaveolens) 
  60. Red kamala (Mallotus philippensis) 
  61. Black tea-tree (Melaleuca bracteata) 
  62. Swamp tea-tree (Melaleuca irbyana) 
  63. Prickly paperbark (Melaleuca styphelioides) 
  64. White cedar (Melia azedarach) 
  65. Pear-fruited tamarind (Mischocarpus pyriformis) 
  66. Snow wood (Parachidendron pruinosum) 
  67. Native mulberry (Pipturus argentata) 
  68. Black apple (Pouteria australis) 
  69. Shiny-leaved canthium (Psydrax odorata) 
  70. Deep yellowwood (Rhodospaera rhodanthema) 
  71. Firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus) 
  72. Red-fruited kurrajong (Sterculia quadrifida) 
  73. Turpentine tree (Syncarpia glomulifera) 
  74. Brush cherry (Syzygium australe) 
  75. Blue lilly pilly (Syzygium francisii) 
  76. Small-leaved lilly pilly (Syzygium leuhmanii) 
  77. Blunt-leaved steelwood (Toechima dasyrrhache) 
  78. Red cedar (Toona ciliata) 
  79. Poison peach (Trema tomentosa) 
  80. Water gum (Tristaniopsis laurina) 
  81. Weeping lilly pilly (Waterhousea floribunda)