In 2024, The Great Ocean Road for the Running Festival partnered with 15Trees to continue to commit to protecting the land on which we race. This year, we purchased 400 trees for local communities and their revegetation projects.
15Trees planted 400 native trees along the very coast where this year’s event was held. The trees were planted at 2 sites; Woolsthorpe and at Freshwater Creek.
Site A | Woolsthorpe | 245 trees planted
The trees were planted as part of a revegetation project at Woolsthorpe, in Western Victoria by the Boyce family, who are working hard to help restore the land back to its original vegetation biome.
This revegetation site plays a significant role in providing habitat to local native wildlife such as eagles, fantails, kingfishes, guinea fowls, finches, emus, magpies, cockatoos (in fact this district is home to 527 species of birdlife), plus koalas, kangaroos, and possums.
Site B | Freshwater Creek | 155 trees planted
The site for these trees was at Common Ground Farm at Freshwater Creek, located on the traditional land of the Wadawurrung/Wathaurong people of the Kulin Nation. The farm is a core business stream in this social enterprise. As a community farm, they run volunteer programs which are very popular among locals, plus workshops and school programs on a variety of food-growing related topics.
The farm’s mission is to create;
- a vibrant and biodiverse space,
- provide an example of regenerative farming and
- allow for community driven food production.
Common Ground Farm believes that people need locally adapted models as an example of what is possible. The trees planted at the farm will provide food and shelter for pollinators. This incorporates biodiversity and supportive planting techniques to create a diverse and integrative system.
Recently, 50 students and 3 teachers from Camberwell Grammar School joined the Common Ground Farm for a tree planting day. The Year 7 students used the day as an introduction to sustainable food systems and to learn how community can participate in landscape restoration.
Some of the species planted included; Bellarine Yellow Gum, Blackwood, Black Wattle, Golden Wattle, River Bottlebrush, Drooping Sheoak, River Sheoak, Hop Goodenia, White Correa and three types of native grasses – Wallaby, Kangaroo and Spear.
The area was historically a seasonal floodplain and wooded grassland. Through land clearing and overgrazing it is now an exposed, invasive-dominated grassland. This planting looks to restore diversity in species, habitat and structure to the local ecosystem. Over time, the trees will provide shelter for wildlife that relies on mid and understory vegetation, reduce wind and evaporation, and contribute to restoring soil health and ecology by assisting with flood or drought mitigation.
The farm is home to many native animals, birds, insects and organisms that support the healthy function of a natural ecosystem. The health of the biodiversity of the land extends beyond just the fence-line.Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Echidnas, Bandicoots, Tiger Snakes, Wedgetail Eagles, Black Kites, Nankeen Kestrels, Black Ducks and Wood Ducks all call this district home.
