Over 350 KPMG staff swapped pinstripes and laptops for gum boots and gardening gear for exciting opportunities to be landcarers for the day. As part of KPMG’s commitment to community impact their staff mobilized across Australia, united in fostering resilient and sustainable communities by volunteering with Landcare groups.
KPMG volunteers certainly rose to the challenge and made a positive impact by helping repair and restore their local environment in 14 locations across Australia. From coasts and dunes to farmland on city fringes, urban bushland pockets, rivers and creeks, and even a man-made island! The teams enthusiastically rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in.
Volunteers learnt about First Nations culture, tended to bush food gardens, propagated native plants from seed and planted native seedlings. They also removed invasive weeds from urban bushland and parks, cleaned litter from waterways and coastlines. The team analysed data, monitored water quality in urban creeks, and removed tree guards and wire from agricultural properties.
Landcare Australia and KPMG could not have pulled off such an amazing cross section of environmental experiences for their staff without the help of the Landcare groups that hosted our friends at KPMG. To find out what each of the groups got up throughout the week, read on…
Tuesday (16th April)
Greater Sydney Landcare (GSL) welcomed 27 volunteers who came to plant 600 native trees and shrubs on a site in Macquarie Park within the City of Ryde.
Led by Creating Canopies Project Manager Danielle Packer and Project Officer Laura Parent, the KPMG team planted 600 native trees and shrubs including Eucalypts (gum trees), Allocasuarinas (she-oaks), Banksias, Acacias (wattles) and other native plants suited to this area.
The sunny day provided a lovely atmosphere as the group worked hard to transform the landscape. In the future it will provide a greener and more vibrant space for wildlife and the local community.
The trees and shrubs selected will grow to 3 metres and above, to provide shade and cooling via evapotranspiration, and help to reduce urban heat in the future. The volunteers put out the fertiliser, the plants, planted them in the soil, and then watered them.
Danielle Packer said, “It was a sunny day, and the volunteers planted the trees very well”.
Friends of Maribyrnong
Friends of Maribyrnong in Western Melbourne put a team of 19 volunteers to work. The team was tasked with mulching, weeding and guard removal in planting areas between a wetland and the Maribyrnong River. Friends of the Maribyrnong Valley was formed to preserve, protect and enhance the Maribyrnong River and its Valley Parklands. The aim is to create a bushland that will act as a wildlife corridor between Footscray Park and Pipemakers Park.
“It was great to get a group of young and enthusiastic people to move large amounts of mulch around” said Maelor Himbury.
Wednesday (17th April)
Indigigrow hosted two KPMG groups at their amazing La Perouse Nursery. Working closely with the IndigiGrow team, volunteers potted over 2000 native bush food plants and flowering natives such as Eremophila’s, Native Thyme, Variety of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub species and Finger Limes, set for wholesale distribution.
In addition to potting, they also took on some weeding tasks. Their commitment and effort spared our IndigiGrow team countless hours of work. We deeply appreciate their support and partnership.
“KPMG’s crew were full of energy, jumping in to help alongside our IndigiGrow team. Together, they potted up over 2000 plants, saving our team loads of time and effort. It was a great day had by all” Jay Cook, Wholesale Nursery Manager
Bushlink, from Brookvale in NSW hosted a small team at Long Reef. They were tasked with helping with the restoration of the wildlife corridor the Long Reef site, weeding and planting new native plants. The KPMG volunteers worked alongside supported employees to help with the planting and weeding which is pivotal in protecting and maintaining the ecosystem and biodiversity at Long Reef.
Abi Byrne said “The KPMG team were great, we were able to clear man invasive species then plant so many native tubestock with their help – Abi Byrne, Assistant Manager, Bushlink.
Thursday (18th April)
Mullaloo Beach Community Group selected a section of coastal reserve (Bush Forever 325) which is located on the southern side of public parkland at Mullaloo Surf Club. The 9 volunteers focused on the removing coastal invasive weed species – mainly Sea Spinach and Dune Onion weed. This was excellent preparation work as there is an upcoming community Coastcare event in the pipeline to plant local provenance seedlings.
“Thank you again for such a fantastic day yesterday at Mullaloo Beach, we had a great time, and it was really rewarding seeing the difference we’d made at the end of the day”. Cassie Wood, Senior Personal Assistant, ESG Advisory & Assurance at KPMG Australia.
Friends of Kororoit Creek (FOKC) hosted 31 volunteers and kept them busy all day. The team planted 750 plants, created a massive pile of weeds, mulched a truckload of mulch, laid jute mat around the new frog bog, removed some dangerous branches, picked up litter and watered all the new plants in. It was a team effort for the FOKC with support from Melbourne Water and Brimbank City Council.
Jessica Gerger, President was delighted “Big wins for the creek today. We couldn’t be happier! We loved working with the hardworking team from KPMG and value their and Landcare Australia’s support greatly.”
Greater Sydney Landcare (GSL) also hosted a group at Boronia Park Reserve in Hunters Hill. The group got involved bush regeneration and participated in some water quality assessments. The team also cleared a patch of bush from weeds, including smothering vines like Balloon Vine and Morning Glory, along with thorny plants like Blackberry, Asparagus and even young Phoenix Palms.
Thanks to these weed removal efforts, the remnant Eucalypt species in the area worked will benefit from some much-needed breathing space which is important because Boronia Park Reserve has long term goals of increasing diversity and providing enhanced native habitat for native species. The park is being used by Powerful Owls. The volunteers weeded around young native Cheese Trees (called so because their fruits resemble small cheese wheels) that will grow to replace the privets that currently dominate the mid-story on this site. Cheese Trees are a preferred roost tree of Powerful Owls.
“The group from KPMG were great. They loved getting out of the office and worked really well. Giving them the opportunity to assess water quality through chemical and biological indicators gave them a deeper understanding of the ecological processes that the remnant bushland Reserves provide” said Greater Sydney Landcare’s Matt Keighery.
Friday (19th April)
17 KPMG volunteers joined Watergum and Sea World Foundation’s TurtleWatch Citizen Science program to help aid nesting turtle habitat at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. The group completed a survey to monitor nesting turtles which stretched from Main Beach to The Spit and back. This survey involved looking for turtle tracks as well as monitoring the condition of the dunes and beach. The group then conducted a beach clean by removing pollution from turtle habitat in the dunes and beaches.
“This group of corporate volunteers were very enthusiastic in helping nesting turtles on the Gold Coast. Together they helped TurtleWatch remove pollution from turtle nesting habitat.” – Caitlin Mandrusiak, Community Engagement Officer Watergum.
Upper River Torrens Landcare Group (URTLG) took 21 volunteers to Cudlee Creek in South Australia, where they removed most of the tree guards from tangled shrubs, dead plants and plants large enough to no longer require protection from kangaroo grazing, across 3 sites that were planted for replacement/ enhanced habitat over the preceding five years since the Cudlee Creek Fire.
They also spent some time pulling out weeds. The extra hands were greatly appreciated by this Landcare group as it takes a lot of time required to untangle wire mesh from grass and seedlings. It was a good time to tackle the task as there is a project taking place to move the wrecked mesh to scrap metal recycling and in the future the group can now reuse intact guards on site/other sites for new plantings.
Stephen Anderson, from URTLG said “After a slightly damp start the group soon warmed up and we had a productive and enjoyable day. The extra hands were greatly appreciated as there is a lot of time required to untangle wire mesh from grass and seedlings”.
Landcare Australia partnerships enable us to service multiple areas of the Landcare community. Our well-recognised Landcare Australia, Junior Landcare and Coastcare brands mean we can develop partnerships that create tangible environmental outcomes as well as business outcomes.
For more information about partnering with Landcare Australia, please contact us on [email protected].
