One Million Trees mission in Bundaberg needs to grow

It’s time to get digging if the region is to make target with Mayor Jack Dempsey’s One Million Trees project. It comes as the fate of a prominent beachfront tree is revealed.

The Bundaberg region will need to plant another 897,338 trees in approximately the next two years if it's to make target in the One Million Trees initiative.

While on the campaign trail in February 2020, Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey pledged to deliver the “ambitious” project which aims to have a million trees planted in the region within a four-year council term.

“I’m pledging another million trees for the next term, to be able to deliver to the community, to enhance our environment, to be able to ensure that we increase the liveability of this beautiful area,” Cr Dempsey said at the time.

Cr Dempsey said the project would support jobs and would be partially funded by state and federal governments.

But two years on, just over 100,00 trees have taken root, meaning the region, and the council, will need to get busy planting if the mayor’s pledge is to come to fruition.

Officially launched in October 2020, the project involves members of the community planting trees and logging them on a website, along with those planted by the council.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a total of 102,662 trees have been planted in the Bundaberg Local Government Area since the pledge was made.

In May, 2022, Cr Dempsey announced the council had completed the planting of 500 native trees at the Baldwin Swamp environment park.

Conservation has been a hot topic in the Bundaberg region in recent months, with concerns over planned developments at both Burnett Heads and the Port of Bundaberg, which sits on state-owned land.

Locals can get involved by registering their own tree they’ve planted, receiving up to 250 trees through the landholder program, claiming two free seedlings or suggesting community areas for planting.

More information can be found here.

A prominent Bargara she-oak has come to the end of its life. A pink stump sits where it once was.

She-oak comes to the end of its life

Beachgoers will have noticed an empty space on the Bargara foreshore, where one of the township’s iconic she-oaks had sat for decades.

Bundaberg Regional Council CEO Steve Johnston explained the tree had been getting to the end of its days.

“A she-oak, which had been in decline for several years, recently died and was removed from the Bargara foreshore,” he said.

“It will be replaced with a newly planted tree in proximity.”

Bundaberg Regional Council CEO Steve Johnston explained the need to balance conservation and public safety.

Mr Johnston said public safety was behind the decision to replace the tree.

“While council protects and preserves trees wherever possible, public safety must be our first priority,” he said.

“Just last year along the Bargara foreshore there was an incident where a she-oak fell and damaged a number of vehicles.

Thankfully no one was injured, but it is incidents like this which highlight council’s responsibility to the community to remove trees where we know a risk exists.”