By Paul Dunlop
GREEN thumbs are needed to lend a hand in a monster planting effort.
The ‘Save the Scentbarks’ community planting day for the Westernport Catchment Landcare Network will be held on Sunday, 23 July.
Thousands of trees and shrubs will be prodded into the soil at Barry and Liz Armstrong’s property at 110 Forest Road, Labertouche.
The Landcare network and the Armstrongs will host the community planting day.
The ultimate aim is to turn the farm into a showcase of sustainable farming in just four years.
The community treeplanting project starts at 9.30am and is the Landcare network’s biggest for the year.
“One hundred people are needed to achieve this task,” coordinator Julie Weatherhead said. “We need as many planters as possible to help us out.
“The aim is to plant 3000 indigenous trees and shrubs by lunchtime. Those attending can then enjoy a delicious free lunch as a thank you,” she said.
The Armstrongs’ 146hectare beef farm has over eight hectares of unfenced bushland across the property.
“Barry and Liz contacted the Landcare network as soon as they had bought the property to do a whole farm plan and apply for fencing and plant subsidies,” Ms Weatherhead said.
“Together an impressive plan was produced that protected all the bushland and linked it up with planned planted corridors and the creeks that also crossed the land.”
Other corridors will be planted with native seed to grow quick corridors on the large project.
The project is funded by the National Landcare Program through the Beef and Dairy Project run by the Westernport Catchment Landcare Network.
For more details call Julie Weatherhead or Peter Ronalds at the WCLN office on 5941 8446.