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Treeplanting supports a
healthier city
More than 11,000 trees havebeenplantedby 1000 volunteers in Ipswich.
VOLUNTEERSNEEDEDTOHELP
THECOMMUNITY
IpswichCommunityCare Fund is looking
toboost their volunteer numbers to
helpout at theCharityShop located at
theKruger ShoppingVillage at Redbank
Plains. This groupdo tremendous
work raisingmuchneeded funds to
help residents inneed throughout the
Ipswich community. If youhave a few
hours to spareplease contact President
JoyWhiteon 32882856 todiscuss
further.
Grabacopyofthe
EnviroplanCalendar
Eachyear IpswichCityCouncil runs an
EnviroplanPhotographicCompetition
and someof thebest images areused to
create the annual EnviroplanCalendar.
The calendar and competition is an
initiative that encourages residents to
photograph the city’swildlife, waterways
andnatural bushland. Residents can
pickup a copyof this year’s calendar
from council’s customer servicedeskor
divisional offices. Calendars are free.
Plasticbagrecycling
Whilemorepeople are switching
to reusable cloth shoppingbags,
Australians still usenearly sevenbillion
plasticbags everyyear. Plasticbags can
takeup to 1000years todecompose as
theybreakdown into smaller pieces,
andnever fully leave theenvironment.
Plasticbags can alsobe returned toyour
local supermarket for recyclingbut only
threeper cent are currently recycled. If
youhaven’tmade the switch to reusable
bags, consider returningyour plastic
bags toyour supermarket so they can
be reused rather thandumped.
Getupclosewith Ipswich
wildlife
TheCityof Ipswichhas adiverse range
ofwildlifeowing to thewide rangeof
habitats around the region.More than
1257 speciesof nativeplants havebeen
identified in the region, alongwith 552
animal species. This includesmammals
(60), reptiles (84), birds (248), fish (41),
amphibians (29) and insects (90). You
canget up close andpersonalwith
someof Ipswich’swildlife at the Ipswich
NatureCentre inQueens Park. Entry is
only a gold coindonation tohelp care
for the animals.
Waterways are improving and
BundambaCreek is healthier thanks
to IpswichCityCouncil’sHabitat
Connections Programwhichhas seen
more than 11,000 trees plantedbymore
than 1000 volunteers sinceMarch 2013.
TheHabitatConnections Program
has been two and a half solid years of
rehabilitation action in theBundamba
Creek area.
In that timemore than800 community
members haveplantedmore than
7000 trees, whichwas boostedby a
staff treeplantingday late last year
that pushed it to the 11,000mark.
Local schools, community groups
andbusinesses havebeenpart of
this extraordinaryeffort, and their
contributionhas played abigpart in
theoutcomeof this successful project.
Improving riverbank vegetation is
a critical element in improving the
water qualityofwaterways, aswell as
improving local fauna levels. Habitat
Connections used 12 nativeplant
species specifically for their suitability
for the area and capacity to stabilise
the creekbanks.
HabitatConnections concentratedon
the rehabilitationof the riparian zones
along Ironpot, Bundamba andDeebing
Creeks, withprojects designed tobuild
ecosystem resilience, address storm
water erosion and remove general
rubbish andpest plant infestations.
Siteswere also chosen for their ability
tooffer newnature-based recreation
opportunities andprovide aplatform
for increased communityengagement
with special treeplanting events such
asNational TreeDay andCleanUp
AustraliaDay.
IpswichCityCouncil is committed
to conserving the city’s natural
environment and activelyengaging
people to get involved.
HabitatConnections combined
environmental sustainabilitywith
nature-based recreation, whilebuilding
important environmental partnerships
with community and corporate groups.
Tofindoutmore about theprogram,
and for informationonother
environmental initiatives in Ipswich,
visit
Local
Snapshots
