Another 25,000 seedlings went into the ground in York on National Tree Day as part of an ambitious project to join the Mortlock and Avon Rivers via a vegetation corridor.

The current Wheatbelt landscape is a highly fragmented one with only small patches of remnant vegetation, the largest of which are found along rivers and in areas that are unviable to farm. This is largely due to land clearing conducted by early settler landholders who were required by law to clear extensive tracts of Wheatbelt land or face losing their land ownership titles.

Wheatbelt NRM’s Mortlock Connections delivery staff are working with 48 landholders throughout the Mortlock region on various projects to create and enhance habitat for native species. The recent plantings in York are the first stage of one of these projects, which will provide a 13 kilometre vegetation corridor that native species can use to safely traverse between the Mortlock and Avon Rivers. So far, seven kilometres of the corridor has been achieved.

Feral animal control is being conducted alongside the revegetation work, targeting feral cats, foxes and rabbits, to improve the chances of making this a successful biodiversity corridor.

Huge thanks to the amazing team of more than 50 volunteer tree planters from community group Activate the Wheatbelt who made their way from Perth to York to help plant on National Tree Day.

Activate the Wheatbelt is an Avongro initiative aimed at bringing together rural and urban youth for environmental activities like tree planting while building confidence and skills.