Council’s One Tree for Me giveaway is back for 2024!

Published: 11 Jul 2024 11:35am

Wagga Wagga City Council’s popular One Tree for Me program is returning for its fourth year of seedling giveaways, starting with a visit to Gumly Gumly on Saturday 13 July.

The initiative was launched in 2021 and aims to see 65,000 native seedlings planted throughout our local area over a six-year period.

Environmental Education Officer Christina Reid said Council will hold three free seedling giveaway events this year.

“We’ll be giving away another 6,000 seedlings to the community over the months of July, August and September because this is the best time to get your seedlings in the ground,” Ms Reid said.

“We choose different locations for the giveaways each time to try to spread them around and to provide everyone with access.

“All you have to do is turn up within the allotted time and we will give you a bag containing a small number of seedlings that are native to the local area and suited to the local climate.

“It's all part of our initiative to encourage people to grow the right sort of plants to support native wildlife, such as small birds and other important pollinators present in urban backyards – so we give away lots of smaller flowering plants, shrubs and ground covers.”

One Tree for Me is part of Council’s Biodiversity Strategy: Maldhangilanha 2020-2030, which sets Council’s path to protecting and enhancing biodiversity in our local area.

In addition to the seedling giveaway, Council also holds community tree planting activities on community land and supports initiatives such as the Schools National Tree Day campaign and National Tree Day.

Ms Reid is full of gratitude to the local community for their strong support for the One Tree for Me initiative, which not only provides free seedlings but also promotes information about locally native plant species.

“We are exactly halfway through the campaign with three years of giveaways behind us and three more years to go,” Ms Reid said.

“So far, 35,578 seedlings have been planted as a result of the campaign, so we are well on track to meet our target!”

The first One Tree for Me seedling giveaway for 2024 will be held on Saturday 13 July from 9am at Riverina Marine Centre, Sturt Highway, Gumly Gumly.

The team will be there until 1pm or until all seedlings are given away.

To find out more about the initiative, visit the One Tree For Me page on our website.