From rubbish tip to wildlife haven

The Friends of Lake Claremont (FOLC) are coming together this Sunday (June 11) to plant 1,000 native seedlings to increase habitat for local wildlife.

Lake Claremont is a critical area of urban habitat just 10 kilometres from the Perth city centre. The site was once cleared for market gardens, filled as a rubbish tip and landscaped into playing fields and a golf course. Restoration efforts began 30 years ago to transform the site with more than 350,000 seedlings planted.

Quendas (southern brown bandicoots) were relocated to the area one year ago, and they rely on shrubby habitats for nesting and protection. Monitoring cameras show the quendas are thriving, with new generations being born onsite.

The group will be planting a mix of trees, shrubs and groundcovers to increase the health and biodiversity of the bushland, providing additional habitat for the local wildlife including insects, reptiles, and native birds.

“Lake Claremont is a conservation category wetland of regional significance. It is vital habitat for our local fauna including quenda, possums and our endangered Carnaby’s cockatoo,” said FOLC coordinator Nick Cook.

The nature care efforts are being made possible by a grant from Planet Ark’s Seedling bank program in the lead up to the organisation’s National Tree Day campaign. The program launched in 2019 with the goal of supplying native seedlings to schools and community groups participating in National Tree Day activities across the country.

“The Seedling Bank is our way of giving back to the thousands of Australian volunteers who roll up their sleeves each year to give something back to the environment as part of National Tree Day,” said Rebecca Gilling, Planet Ark CEO.

“We have already directly supported 132 groups in their efforts to plant over 80,000 native trees, shrubs and grasses since the program’s inception.”

Since the restoration work began, native bird species, including the variegated fairy-wren have returned to the area. There are now over 100 species of birds that live at or visit the wetland.

Volunteers have been working hard to attract native pollinators to the area, one of the plant species that will be added is an annual herb, Parietaria cardiostegia, which serves as a food source for the larvae of the yellow admiral butterfly.

“Now that our major plantings are complete our annual infill planting is focused on some of the more challenging areas within the project," said Cook.

"We are also placing greater emphasis on herbaceous understory plants." 

Schools Tree Day (July 28) and National Tree Day (July 30) are Australia’s largest annual tree-planting and nature care events, with plantings taking place across the country on the last weekend of July.

National Tree Day is an initiative organised by Planet Ark in partnership with major sponsor Toyota Australia and its Dealer Network. For more information and to find events in your local area, please visit treeday.planetark.org.

Planet Ark Environmental Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit organisation with a vision of a world where people live in balance with nature. Established in 1992, it is one of Australia’s leading environmental behaviour change organisations with a focus on working collaboratively and positively. Planet Ark promotes and creates simple, positive environmental actions – for everyone.