Posted by Michael Crowe on Jun 04, 2018

Port Fairy Rotary Club members recently planted 13 Norfolk Island Pines as part of the rejuvenation of the Port Fairy Botanic Gardens. The trees have contributed to the Club's response to Rotary International President Ian Riseley's challenge to every Rotary Club to plant a tree for each of its members between the start of the Rotary year on 1 July and Earth Day on 22 April 2018. 

The Club has well and truly achieved the goal, with over 200 trees planted during this period at Battery Hill, Skenes Road and the Botanic Gardens.

Ian Riseley

 
At the commencement of his term President Riseley identified protecting the environment and curbing climate change as one of Rotary’s goals of sustainable service in 2017/18.  The result world wide will be 1.2 million new trees.  He noted that trees bring many benefits including  the removal of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the air, which slows global warming.
 
 
A new Norfolk Island Pine in the Gardens
 
The main tree planting activities undertaken by the Club during 2017/18 are:
 
  • Over 200 local indigenous tube stock planted at Battery Hill into the primary coastal dune between the Moyne River and East Beach, in order to assist with dune stabilisation and increase native habitat.
  • 16 Coastal Casuarina trees planted on Skenes Road to compliment the existing plantings. These roadside trees are managed by Rotary as a local beautification project. Skenes Road is a major entrance into Port Fairy.  
  • As the first phase of Port Fairy Rotary’s commitment to revitalise our Botanic Gardens, 13 advanced Norfolk Island Pine trees were planted along the river’s edge within the gardens.  These were planted to fill in gaps among the existing historic plantation. The Gardens were established by Ferdinand von Mueller in 1859.