Grown for Purpose 20/21: Our journey together this year
Our Grown for Purpose program is in its second year and this year we have given thousands of native plants to 48 local groups, schools and conservation organisations!
Grown for Purpose lets us give back to the community that we are proudly part of. It allows us to work together to green our lives with native flora, creating healthy and happy places for plants and people to thrive. It’s so important for us to support the preservation of our unique ecosystems and biodiversity by working with the community in building a healthier, happier and more sustainable future.
Here’s a peek at where some of our plants Grown for Purpose plants went and the community groups behind helping to restore bushland across the state…
Friends of Sampson Park
The Friends of Sampson Park were one of the first groups to plant this winter season and they hit the jackpot with their volunteers. We attended the planting along with the members of the Friends group and around 30 community volunteers.
The planting was done with the goal to restore the missing endemic banksias and add in smaller shrubs. The aim was to limit the amount of hand weeding needing to be done in the area – as well as providing food for birds, providing a habitat for local fauna and allowing local residents to enjoy the rehabilitated bushland in the park.
Friends of Marine Terrace
Friends of Marine Terrace kicked of their planting on one of the wettest weekends in June! This community group’s most recent challenge has been the rehabilitation of degraded bike track from central Fremantle to South Beach.
Lots of volunteers came together on the day from across Fremantle, planting around 600 native plants. A mixture of low shrubs, grasses and flowers were used to regenerate the area with the main aim to make the journey along the path more enjoyable, while creating shelter and food for local wildlife.
Photo by Cassie Gunthorpe
Woodlupine Primary School
They say they best way to learn is by doing and that is certainly how Woodlupine Primary School teach their students about sustainability and the importance of urban bushland! The school involves students in rehabilitating the bushland area next to the school, getting them involved in weeding and planting, while teaching about the importance of native flora.
Their plants went into rehabilitating the enclosed bushland area next to the school and were put into the ground very enthusiastically by the help of year 5/6 students! It was amazing to see how excited they were to be involved and how passionate their teacher Karena Joyce is about teaching the kids about the native plants in the area.
North Parmelia Primary School
One of the best things to remember about increasing biodiversity is that it’s about getting native flora into the ground. It doesn’t have to be all about rehabilitating the bush North Parmelia Primary School proved just this when the majority of their plants were used to rehabilitate their schools old entrance, giving the plants time to grow in before the schools 50th anniversary in November.
The plants also went into the neighbouring bushland on the schools oval that required rehabilitation due to weeds and soil degradation. The school has been rehabilitating the schools bushland over 2 years to help suppress the weeds and decrease the fire risk in the area. It was great to see kids of all ages involved in the planting as well as the parents.
Join us in 2022
We want to support as many projects in the community as possible next year! If you are part of a community group or school and need help with funding – let us know when applications open up in October 2021 here.
