SA Murray Mallee newest region to receive trees through AstraZeneca’s global forest initiative

Planting partners at Deepwell in the Murray Mallee. L-R Kevin Kropinyeri (Ruwe Aboriginal Corporation), Ann and Peter Henry (landholders) and Andrew Woodroffe (Greening Australia). Photo credit Paul Moses.

With less than a quarter of the SA Murray Mallee region’s original vegetation remaining, funding from AstraZeneca’s global AZ Forest initiative is supporting large-scale restoration of this priority area.

Two properties in the SA Murray Mallee received free trees in 2024 through a partnership between AstraZeneca, global reforestation charity One Tree Planted, and national environmental not-for-profit Greening Australia. The largest of the two properties, Deepwell, has had well over a quarter of a million trees planted.

Peter and Ann Henry, the landholders at Deepwell, said the support from the partnership had enabled them to undertake a much larger restoration project on their property than they could have accomplished alone.

“When we purchased the property in 2008 there was very little remnant vegetation remaining. We soon noticed the desertification and wind erosion on both our property and neighbouring properties and began to plant trees as early as 2010. The success of these plantings and the subsequent return of wildlife was encouraging, so we wanted to do more,” said Ann.

The Henrys did some of their own plantings to combat desertification and wind erosion at Deepwell. The success of this transformation from 2016 (top photo) to 2022 (bottom photo) helped motivate them to do more. Photos courtesy Peter and Ann Henry.

Having decided early on that cropping was not economical at Deepwell, the Henrys minimised their inputs by running Merino sheep for wool and lambs, using rotational grazing to encourage native pasture to re-establish. Andrew Woodroffe, Greening Australia’s lead on the restoration project, said this regenerative approach to farming meant that the restoration project was starting from a particularly strong base.

“Our planting at Deepwell incorporates a range of tree and shrub species carefully selected to mimic the mallee woodland ecosystems that would originally have been found there. And thanks to the way Peter and Ann have managed the land, we’ll get an even better result for biodiversity and habitat outcomes, because native grasses and groundcovers are already present,” said Andrew.

“Because so much mallee woodland has been cleared historically, restoring large parcels like this is really crucial to give birds, marsupials and other unique creatures and plants associated with these ecosystems a chance of persisting into the future.”

The Deepwell project benefitted from the knowledge and skills of Habitats SA for direct seeding, and of Bush Healers and a team from Ruwe Aboriginal Corporation for tubestock planting.

Crew from Bush Healers and Ruwe Aboriginal Corporation while planting tubestock for the project at Deepwell. Photo courtesy Peter and Ann Henry.

Ruwe Aboriginal Corporation Director Kevin Kropinyeri said three crew members from the Ngarrindjeri family enterprise had been involved on-ground, planting almost 10,000 seedlings for the revegetation project.

Kevin said: “We’ve grown over a million plants in our lifetime. Working with plants created a career pathway for myself and I’ve seen that when these types of programs are implemented, the employment that comes out of it affects the whole community. That’s what drives us: providing opportunity for more and more people through environmental services like revegetation, apiary and nursery-based works.”

Family effort: The Henrys collected seed from native trees and shrubs on their property to help ensure the project had endemic, locally adapted species. Peter and Ann’s son Luke also did a day of direct seeding with the team. Photo courtesy Peter and Ann Henry.

Besides restoring habitat and supporting local businesses, the planting at Deepwell is also a carbon planting, registered by Greening Australia’s environmental credits company Canopy.

Peter said: “We’re slowing down and, in thinking about the future of this property, we began to enquire about carbon projects on farming land. Like most small family farms we’ve been experiencing a cost price squeeze in our wool/lamb enterprises so the prospect of having a reliable annual lease payment regardless of seasonal variations was attractive. We particularly wanted a biodiverse carbon planting though, so getting Greening Australia’s expertise in large-scale restoration made sense.”

“Reducing carbon in the atmosphere is paramount at present. We hope the trees will also provide habitat for an increasingly diverse population of wildlife and native plants. No doubt we will also see a reduction in wind erosion. One outcome that would be ideal is that other farmers might consider a similar project on their properties.”

Greening Australia’s Andrew Woodroffe checks the direct seeding lines at Deepwell for germination. All the paddocks visible behind him have been planted as part of the project. Photo credit Paul Moses.

AstraZeneca Australia and New Zealand Country President, Ben McDonald said: “It is great to see the enormous progress made in the SA Murray Mallee, which will have a positive impact on the local biodiversity in the region.

“AstraZeneca is proud to partner with Greening Australia and One Tree Planted to deliver one of the largest-ever privately funded restoration projects in the country. So far over 6.5 million native trees have been planted in priority regions located in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.”

The global AZ Forest initiative is aiming to plant a total of 25 million biodiverse and locally appropriate trees across Australia.

Landholders who want to discuss biodiverse carbon plantings for their properties can find more information and register their interest at greeningaustralia.org.au/landholders

 
To receive news like this straight to your inbox, subscribe to Greening Australia’s newsletter, The Leaf.

Share this article