New trees for Flagstaff Hill Primary School

National Tree Day co-founder Jon Dee joined Flagstaff Hill Primary School students this week to plant trees on campus ahead of Schools Tree Day (today) and National Tree Day (Sunday 28 July).

More than 40 trees were provided to the school – one of 14 participants in a Green Adelaide Education program to share in 500 trees – through the inaugural One Tree Per Child Onkaparinga campaign, with Jon getting his hands dirty alongside 32 reception and year 5–6 students.

“Every tree, plant and shrub [you plant] is going to grow, and hopefully you’ll continue helping the environment as you grow older and the tree grows with you, so thank you very much for doing your planting today,” Jon told the Flagstaff students as they tried out their new gloves and trowels.

The students dug holes, prepared the plants, planted the trees in the ground and then covered them with recycled cardboard tree guards they’d previously decorated with art.

The trees – which include Mallee Box, Drooping Sheoak, Slaty Sheoak and Prickly Tea Tree – will increase the school’s and Onkaparinga’s tree canopy and help create habitat for the vulnerable yellow-tailed black cockatoo – two of the campaign’s key aims.

One-thousand plants were earlier provided to Onkaparinga residents at a One Tree Per Child Onkaparinga tree giveaway event at Seaford Community Centre on Sunday 2 June.

Jon Dee established One Tree Per Child with Olivia Newton-John in 2015 and the community-interest social enterprise has since seen hundreds-of-thousands of trees planted in 10 countries.

The City of Onkaparinga became the first South Australian council to partner with the organisation on Earth Day this year.

The annual campaign acknowledges that metropolitan Adelaide’s tree canopy is under threat, particularly on private land (residential, business and community land, which represents 74 per cent of Onkaparinga). So, it offers the community the resources, inspiration and trees to help cool their properties and provide habitat for wildlife.

If you’d like to plant at your home, business or school – head to the council’s One Tree Per Child Onkaparinga webpage where you’ll find advice for choosing, sourcing and planting your tree. And once you’ve planted, drop a pin on the interactive map so the community can see Onkaparinga’s canopy grow!

One Tree Per Child Onkaparinga is a collaboration between the City of Onkaparinga, One Tree Per Child, Green Adelaide, Arborgreen and Trees For Life, with Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes and wife Jane having also thrown their support behind the program.

National Tree Day is Australia’s largest community tree-planting and nature care event, while Schools Tree Day is an annual opportunity to inspire students to learn about the local environment while playing an active role in their community.

Jon Dee has a long history of environmental work. Aside from One Tree Per Child, he co-founded Planet Ark and the DoSomething charities, and has help from celebrity friends to promote his work.

One Tree Per Child Onkaparinga is just one of the City of Onkaparinga’s many programs to encourage urban greening. It works in tandem with the council’s target to plant 100,000 trees on council land by 2037, with almost 58,000 trees already planted in streets, reserves and natural areas since 2017.

Photos

Top and bottom images by Rob Wallace.

Students from Flagstaff Hill Primary School huddle for a photo following their tree planting.

One Tree Per Child co-founder Jon Dee speaks to children at Flagstaff Hill Primary School. A close-up image of students' hands in colourful gardening gloves. A tray filled with small trees ready for planting. A close-up of students planting a tree. Students plant trees in pairs in a garden bed at Flagstaff Hill Primary School. Two students hold trees ready for planting and smile at the camera.