Bass Coast communities making moves in Victoria’s green industry

A fifth generation farmer has planted thousands of trees on his Bass Coast property. See why him and other businesses are passionate about reducing our carbon footprint.

A fifth generation farmer has planted thousands of trees at his Bass Coast property in the past four years in an effort to address climate change.

Sam Walker, 53, bought Isola Farm in Glen Alvie in 2017 but has been around farms for his entire life.

With the help of Landcare Australia, the regenerative farmer planted 30,000 trees to help improve the land and footprint.

“We have a great channel through the farm that becomes a river system and that was really denoted so our aim was to plant that all out,” he said.

“There’s so many benefits for the environment, livestock, wildlife and aesthetics.”

The regenerative farmer has a passion for reducing emissions and climate change in the community.

Regenerative farmers help reduce climate change by improving soil health by planting trees, grazing cattle lightly and eliminating fertilisers and chemicals.

Healthier soils draw more carbon out of the atmosphere which is better for the environment.

Mr Walker is not the only person addressing climate change in the area.

Farmer Sam Walker spoke about his tree planting on The New Joneses series. Picture: Supplied

Totally Renewable Phillip Island is a community organisation who has a mission to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The organisation is made up of six working groups and 14 partner organisations that promote clean energy, infrastructure for electric vehicles, reduction in waste, regenerative and carbon farming and carbon accounting.

This includes Phillip Island Nature Parks, National Vietnam Veterans Museum, Phillip Island Landcare Group and Energy Innovation Co-Operative.

Co-ordinator Zoe Geyer said awareness of carbon footprint was growing each year.

“Businesses are finding increasing resources and information to make more beneficial long term decisions, such as reducing packaging waste and purchasing trees willingly to provide some offset to the impact of business operations,” she said.

“There is no doubt that ‘carbon neutral’ will become a necessity of trading as a business in the next few years, just as equal pay and gender equity are a minimum expectation for business.”

Ms Geyer said most people wanted to do the right thing but they don’t know where to start.

“We aim to make this simpler through our working group focus, our education and communications, and our carbon accounting to track impacts of actions,” she said.

The Bass Coast is predominantly made up of waterline communities and Ms Geyer said they were most at risk from climate change conditions.

“Being carbon neutral is really about balancing our actions,” she said.

“None of us want to have a negative impact through our lifestyles, but it can be an unfortunate side effect.

“Measuring the impacts of our lifestyles in terms of carbon output, making decisions to reduce emissions where possible, and then actively balancing these emissions is a simple equation that will provide a positive, innovative future for the next generations.”

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