Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are few better ways of spending a Sunday morning in my electorate of Swan than by taking a stroll on the foreshore through the lush Canning wetlands to admire the magnificent natural beauty of the Swan-Canning estuarine environment. In June, I was given the chance to help a local effort to improve this special environment. I was invited to help with some tree planting for Arbour Day, 7 June, which marked the final stage of a five-year revegetation project to revegetate Garvey Park floodplain in Belmont.

The land revegetated is former Department of Planning and Infrastructure land that was returned to the City of Belmont after the expiry of the lease. The City of Belmont has made good use of the land by restoring native vegetation. A joint project between the City of Belmont and the Assist Two Rivers Catchment Group, the project was funded by the Swan Alcoa Landcare Program. Nearly 15,000 tube stock were planted on the land this year. Each year for the past five years has seen between 10,000 and 15,000 trees planted.

I am pleased to report to members that native tree planting is leading to all the flow-on benefits that one would expect from natural vegetation. Congratulations to the City of Belmont, the Assist Two Rivers Catchment Group and, of course, the local community for their excellent work. I encourage all members to come and see the work they have done—I would be happy to give you a guided tour.

In closing I would like to say that, as a member of the Men of the Trees carbon-neutral program, it was a pleasure to assist with this planting day and to see the young people and families in my electorate, and in particular two local councillors Robert Rossi and Steve Wolff, supporting this program on this day.