Just outside Gawler, on a hilltop blessed with some of the most magnificent and ancient mallee box on the planet, bulldozers have cleared the ground for a new housing development.
Experts at Melbourne University suggest the trees that have been removed to allow for this development could be up to 1,000 years old. But instead of building around them, the developer hoped to maximise profits by chopping them down.
Heartbreakingly, 10 of these ancient giants have already been destroyed; another 16 are at risk.
sAnd it’s not just happening in Gawler. Across metropolitan Adelaide, we are losing a staggering 75,000 trees every year.
We have to turn this around – quickly. And with your help, we can do it.
For the past three years Conservation SA has been leading a community campaign to stand up for our ancient trees, and change the law to make sure they are around for our children to play in their shade.
And we are having a big impact.
It’s essential we continue to create the change our trees desperately need.
With your help we can:
- Hold lobbying workshops to train even more volunteers
- Present public forums and challenge myths in the media,
- Deliver essential law reforms that mean that trees like the magnificent Mallee box at Gawler are protected, and
- Develop a system for identifying and responding when trees are at risk.
Together we can save our trees.