Greening Australia is an Australian environmental organisation, founded in 1982, the International Year of the Tree, to protect, restore and conserve Australia's native vegetation. Greening Australia was formed by the United Nations Association of Australia and the Nursery Industry Association of Australia.
In the 1980s tree cover decline was acknowledged as having a serious adverse impact on agricultural and pastoral productivity. Removal of tree cover was also linked with the development of salinity, soil degradation and erosion, and declining water quality. On World Environment Day in 1982, then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser announced the establishment of the National Tree Program, which aimed to reverse tree decline throughout Australia. Greening Australia provided the non-government arm of the National Tree Program. With representation in every state and territory and a national office in Canberra, Greening Australia became the primary focus for non-government tree projects.
Since its inception, Greening Australia has undergone a natural evolution – from a focus on trees to a focus on landscape. The Gondwana Link and River Recovery projects reflect this change and the need to address the impacts of climate change.
Greening Australia has been involved in many large scale revegetation and restoration projects in Australia since its inception, including the National Tree Program, the One Billion Trees Project, Bushcare Support, National Corrdiors of Green, Florabank and Green Corps. The focus of its work lies in providing trees and tree planting services, technical advice and education, volunteer co-ordination and funding for restoration projects.
On World Environment Day 1998, Greening Australia's work was recognised with admission to the United Nations Environment Programme Global 500 Roll of Honour. This award recognises outstanding achievements in protection of the environment, and represents a significant achievement for Australia's role in world conservation.
Current projects
Greening Australia's mission is to conserve and restore landscapes at scale through collaborative, science-based and innovative conservation programs. The organisation has set bold 2030 goals to align their five national programs with global restoration targets. These goals include: 500,000,000 native plants established 330,000 hectares of habitat restored 1,300,000 tonnes of carbon sequestered per annum
Great Southern Landscapes
Since European settlement, agricultural landscapes in southern Australia have lost over 80% of their natural habitat, impacting on threatened species and the productivity of Australia's farmlands.
To help threatened plants and wildlife, and combat global climate change, Greening Australia are working across southern Australia's unique landscapes, integrating large-scale re-afforestation and carbon sinks into farming systems to create healthy, productive landscapes for people and nature.
Gondwana Link is one of the largest and most ambitious conservation projects in Australia's history. Designed to protect and restore land across and adjoining the nation's only global renowned biodiversity hotspot, the completed link will be an arc of bushland stretching for 1000 kilometres, from the wet forests in Western Australia's far southwest to the edge of the Nullarbor Plain. Greening Australia is working alongside a host of partners on this project, including Bush Heritage Australia and The Nature Conservancy.
The Living Flinders program covers 1.3 million hectares of internationally significant landscape in the Southern Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It is a national hotspot for native plants and animals including the endangered Yellow-Footed Rock-wallaby and supports critically endangered Peppermint Box and Grey Box Grassy Woodlands. The project aims to increase conservation efforts on privately held land as well as reduce invasion by feral species and reconnect existing reserve systems. It is a ten-year project that calls for a $30m investment. Living Flinders is also part of the SA Government's Naturelinks program as well as an important component of the Trans Australia Eco-link.
Reef Aid
Climate change and poor water quality are the greatest threats to the future of the Great Barrier Reef. Greening Australia is addressing both through its Great Southern Landscapes and Reef Aid programs. Reef Aid works with landholders, communities and Traditional Owners to improve water quality for the Reef by rebuilding gullies and restoring coastal wetlands across the catchment.
