Students from Lindisfarne North Primary were just two of many across Tasmania who participated in National Tree Day.
Schools across Tasmania have again benefited from trees donated by Forestry Tasmania (FT), grown by its nursery for National Tree Day. Source: Timberbiz, Forestry Tasmania
National Tree Day is supported throughout Australia by Planet Ark.
The Assistant Manager of FT Perth nursery, Carlton Cox, said more than 70,000 seedlings had been made available to schools and community groups over the past eight years.
There was an allocation of more than 6000 seedlings of 12 different species this year.
“Our range of species included plants from a variety of environments so that suitable plants were available for milder coastal areas through to the colder central regions of Tasmania,” Mr Cox said.
“Species include some less common eucalypts, Eucalyptus morrisbyi, (morrisby’s gum) and Eucalyptus gunnii (cider gum), the bird attracting Callistemon pallidus (lemon bottlebrush) and Melaleuca squarrosa (scented paperbark) which tolerates both wet soil and coastal conditions.
“The confines of some school grounds have resulted in higher demand for smaller shrubs and we’ve had to grow a higher proportion of shrub species this year.
“The shade and natural environment both the shrubs and trees will create will make schools more pleasant places to be.”
Mr Cox said that growing plants offers many learning activities that tie into the science curriculum and that having students plant the seedlings encourages them to care for and watch the plants grow alongside themselves as they progress through school.
