A large group of green-fingered volunteers will converge on the banks of the Brisbane River to plant 5,230 trees at The University of Queensland on July 1.
The trees will help provide important habitat for native wildlife and enhance biodiversity on campus, while helping prevent erosion and improve water quality.
Clair Keleher from UQ Sustainability said social media had attracted 162 registrations – meaning they had enough volunteers to do the work.
“We’ll be planting a variety of native grasses, ground cover plants and shrubs,” she said.
“These will increase the diversity of habitats in the restored areas and will complement the existing canopy trees that grow along the Brisbane River on campus.
“This will provide additional, complementary habitat on campus for biodiversity, increasing the amount and variety of habitat available, and enhancing the diversity of species that occur on campus.
The volunteers will also work to restore the underbrush to provide habitat and a movement corridor for smaller native birds and insects, including a threatened butterfly species that is not found on campus despite occurring in the wider Brisbane area.
“This habitat will provide food resources, and for smaller birds, shelter from larger, more-competitive native species. Pre and post-restoration monitoring will be conducted to reveal changes in biodiversity within and near the restored areas,” Ms Keleher said.
The long-term plan is to create a vegetation ‘corridor’ linking the vegetation along the Brisbane River upstream of the campus to the UQ Lakes District, providing a path for birds and other species to safely access the lakes area.
The project has been made possible by the Society for Conservation Biology (Brisbane UQ Chapter) in collaboration with UQ Property and Facilities, and with funding from the Queensland Government’s Everyone’s Environment grants program.
When: Wednesday 1 July 2015, 9am to 12.30pm
What: Volunteers planting 5000+ trees on the banks of the Brisbane River
Where: University of Queensland St Lucia Campus, on the riverbank opposite Oval 1, next to Emmanuel College.
Contact: UQ Sustainability Coordinator Clair Keleher, 07 3365 2076, c.keleher@pf.uq.edu.au
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