Gippsland Water is planting 92,000 natives to reduce carbon footprint

Gippsland Water is planting 92,000 native trees at its Dutson Downs property as part of its commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Its contractors, Indigenous Design, along with subcontractors from Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) have been planting the various varieties of natives since the start of July.

On Friday they had some help from Loch Sport Primary School students during a planting session for Schools Tree Day.

Gippsland Water managing director Sarah Cumming said the kids planted species including Black Wattles, Silver Banksias and Gippsland Red Gums.

“Gippsland Water is proud to support initiatives as important for the environment as National Tree Day and Schools Tree Day.”

“It’s also wonderful to be able to share our project with the next generation, who will benefit most from the carbon-reducing programs we implement today.

“First the children learned a little bit about what types of trees they were planting and why. Then they had a chance to get their hands dirty planting some saplings.”

Ms Cumming said so far more than 45,000 of the 92,000 individual trees are in the ground, with the rest expected to be planted by the end of August.

“As they continue to grow, these trees will absorb carbon from the air, reducing the level of greenhouse gases that reach our atmosphere,” she said.

“This carbon offset project is just one of the ways we are reducing our overall carbon emissions to reach our goal of a 24 per cent emissions reduction by 2025.

“Another project, as laid out in our Energy Management Strategy, is the installation of more than 1800 solar panels across three of our sites. This project is currently underway.”