Three schools help plant more than 1500 seedlings in Busselton and Capel for National Tree Day

Students from schools in the Busselton area have put their green thumbs to good use to plant more than 1500 seedlings. Capel Primary School, Busselton Senior High School and Georgiana Molloy Anglican School pupils put their buckets and shovels to work to celebrate National Tree Day. The Holgate Road foreshore in Broadwater is now home to 400 more trees thanks to the efforts of BSHS’ Years 11 and 12 students, who braved challenging conditions between incoming storm fronts. Joined by teacher Louise Mutch, the students also applied mulch and fitted biodegradable guards for the trees, which were supplied by Busselton Toyota. Busselton Water funded the cost of watering the plants during summer to ensure they get established. More than 100 Capel Primary School students in Years 2 and 3 planted 500 trees in a bare spot on school gorunds, while Georgiana Molloy Anglican School’s Green Team planted more than 700 trees around St Mary’s Anglican Church and at their school grounds over two days. GeoCatch’s Nicole Lincoln said without the help of students, there was no way she could have planted such a large number of seedlings. “This year’s planting days had a strong community focus, with the school groups stepping up to look after their public open space,” she said. “It is great to see the students taking ownership and pride in regenerating their surrounding environment for the critically endangered western ringtail possum and other local species.” Planet Ark’s Seedling Bank, the State Government’s State NRM program and the City of Busselton’s You Choose program were thanked for their support.