Lennox Head Public students get involved in World Environment Day

June 5, 2008

It was a case of ‘many hands make trees grow’ when Lennox Head Public School students, local residents and business people planted 1250 trees on Lennox Headland today to mark World Environment Day.

It was the sixth annual tree-planting day, which is organised by local business GeoLINK, in conjunction with Ballina Shire Council.

Ballina Shire Council’s James Brideson said littoral rainforest species were planted, with the ultimate aim of getting the headland back to what it was before European settlement.

“The area was once covered by littoral rainforest but it has been logged and farmed,” he said.

The invasive bitou bush is being targeted and James hopes that one day the headland will be somewhere near what it once was — but he estimates that it will take another 20 years to achieve that.

Ballina Shire Council supplied the trees, mulch, water and some planting gear.

GeoLINK’s Business Development Co-ordinator, Alicia Foster, says GeoLINK is enormously proud to be involved in the Community Tree Planting Day initiative.

“An important part of GeoLINK’s mission is helping the communities in which we live and work to build a sustainable future for our natural and built environments,” she said.

“Community Tree Planting Day is a chance for the Lennox community to be actively involved in protecting a valuable part of the area’s natural heritage, and in particular this pocket of coastline, which is so important to Lennox Head’s unique local identity and culture.”