Over two weeks in June the Noongar Boodjar Rangers spent 8 days planting trees at Warralakin in the North-Eastern Wheatbelt for Carbon Positive. Enduring the cold and rain, but loving being on Country, a total of 11 Rangers planted 66,000 shrubs and trees into land for carbon offsets.

Species planted were diverse including eucalypts, acacias, allocasuarinas, dodoneas, calothamnus and melaleucas, the seed for all of which was collected on site previously, much of it by the Rangers themselves.

This strategy of using local seed ensures the unique provenance of the local flora is maintained, along with the area’s biodiversity. This is important to maintain a healthy ecosystem. It is not uncommon amongst WA native flora for it to have a unique relationship with a pollinator, where their lifecycles are intertwined. To lose either the plant or the insect can be to the detriment or even the loss of the other. And so, the Rangers ensured they put a mix of species into the lines they were planting to enhance and maintain the area’s biodiversity.

The Rangers had planted on the block in previous years and conducted spraying at various times to assist with weed and pest control. So, it was quite satisfying for those Rangers to look over their previous plantings and see their seedlings growing and the once bare paddocks being transformed. And it will also be not only satisfying but wonderful for others to see and benefit from the amazing and unique flora of the wheatbelt thriving in the years to come, along with the insects, birds and animals that depend on it for their survival.

Well done Noongar Boodjar Rangers!