COFFS Harbour Regional Landcare (CHRL) President Barry Powells keenly welcomed volunteer teams of planters from John Paul College (JPC) Coffs Harbour, City of Coffs Harbour’s Coastal Work bush regeneration team members and GeoLINK staff, who gathered on Boambee Headland on Tuesday 23 May to plant over 400 trees.

Some 200 trees were once again donated by GeoLINK, matching their commitment in 2022.

“They are making a real contribution to the revegetation project,” Barry told News Of The Area.

“We have been slowly progressing work on the eastern side of the headland to replace the many trees killed as a result of the severe hailstorm in October 2021.

“The focus is on extending this area where the original Banksia forest was virtually wiped out by the devastating storm.”

Before starting work, Barry briefed the students, who were accompanied by Michael Stubbs, Assistant Principal at JPC, and explained the purpose of the planting.

“This site is an ecologically endangered community, particularly for its flock of glossy black cockatoos, that means they’re rare, there’s not many of them, and we need to attract them back,” Barry told the students.

He explained that wallabies are active on the headland and that’s why all the new tree plantings have black plastic guards around them “to keep the wallabies from eating our trees”.

“They are able to sense when the soil has been disturbed and they sniff out the nice new trees and they eat everything that’s green on them, so we cover up the trees for a couple of years to help them get going.”

Barry reported that the past planting of 200 trees a year ago was successful and the trees are still going strong.

“The hailstorm did major damage to the headland; we lost several hundred mature banksias and casuarinas, which has been devastating for the local wildlife.

“The endangered glossy black cockatoos come here especially to eat the vegetation from only one species of tree – the casuarina.

“We are planting lots more of them today.”

The site had been prepared for the planting teams by Sawtell Dunecare, Landcare volunteers and the bush regen team, who had dug at least 400 holes ready for the trees to go in.

Michael Stubbs told News Of The Area, “We (JPC) have a combination of our Student Leaders and our Duke of Edinburgh students here today.

“Their involvement follows on from our Year 10 program we did last year where Landcare supported us with involvement in care of the land, planting and weeding.

“It’s part of our growing relationship with Landcare,” he said.

With the students at the ready with trowels and spades, bush regeneration specialist Aaron Hartley from Coastal Works explained more about why replanting matters to the functioning of the headland bush.

“Die-back is particularly bad here on the headland after the hail, the really wet weather we had in March 2021 and the continuous salt spray.”

Some 85 percent of the Banksia have died-off on the site.

“We’re trying to get a good shady canopy back because when the canopy dies-off it lets sunlight in, which brings weed invasion.

“Weeds come in off tracks on shoes, car tyres and animal fur.”

The grass seed is gravity feeding down the slope, exacerbated by the wallabies bringing it in all through the native grasses, which makes hard work for the bush regen team who then has to hand weed through it all.

“It’s a very interesting community here; an endangered ecological community under threat from numerous exotic grasses which grow above it and swamp it out.

“All this planting today is going to help grow the shade canopy which will slow down all the weeds,” said Aaron.

Jessica O’Leary, Senior Ecologist at GeoLINK, said the organisation was very proud to take part in another successful tree planting day on Boambee Headland.

“In May 2022 GeoLINK and CHRL formed a planting partnership to progressively plant out the forested areas on the headland affected during the Oct 2021 hailstorm, which severely damaged many of the native trees and vegetation,” Jess told NOTA.

“GeoLINK made contact with CHRL advising them of its aim to become a carbon neutral consulting company, via local planting initiatives within proximity to each of its three main offices in Coffs Harbour, Lennox Head and Armidale.”

Each year, each office group will partner with a local regeneration group or private landholder to select a tree planting location and will plant 200 trees to offset its carbon emissions.

“The Boambee Headland site is perfect for the Coffs Office tree planting day, as it’s a large site that can be expanded on for several years to come.

“On the day the team planted a total of 570 trees.

“Predominant species planted on the day were: Coast Banksia (Banksia integrifolia), Forest Red Gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis), Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca), Black She-oak (Allocasuarina littoralis) and Screw Pine (Pandanus tectorius).

“GeoLINK is looking forward to next year’s tree planting day already,” said Jess.

By Andrea FERRARI