Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group plants 100,000 trees

Not-for-profit organisation Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group has just passed the milestone of planting 100,000 trees in order to restore the historic Ludlow Forest.

The Ludlow Forest is the biggest remaining pure forest of tuart trees, with only 3 per cent of it remaining.

The objective of the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group is to provide community support for the restoration, protection and on going maintenance of the iconic forest.

The group is run by volunteers and relies on the generosity of supporters to achieve its goals.

“We are a group of people that are really concerned about the environmental impact of this forest disappearing and it’s really fragile, it needs to be looked after, and it needs to be brought to the public’s attention,” former group president Evelyn Taylor said.

The restoration group started in 2018 after a meeting around Ms Taylor’s kitchen table, discussing all the problems and the proposal to restore the forest with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

The group now has 660 members and all the membership profits go towards funding and many of the members volunteer within the group.

The volunteers don’t only just plant the trees, they do a variety of tasks including restoring houses, painting and making signage.

The Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group has a big master plan, some of which includes creating a playground, installing overnight camping facilities, a research centre and a community hall.

A big portion of the plan includes restoring the old buildings and houses which remain on site in an unusable condition.

Volunteers have been working on revamping 12 abandoned cottages into short term accommodation, using recycled and donated materials.

One of the most important aspects of the group’s work is planting and growing the trees.

The 100,000 trees planted were not only due to the work of Ludlow members and volunteers, but also students.

“We have had a planting program which has included children from schools from Vasse, all the way up to Bunbury coming down, learning and planting seedlings,” Ms Taylor said.

All the work done by the group is completely voluntary with no paid positions.

In order to continue its work, the group calls on donations, funding, members and volunteers, so it can make an even bigger change to the last remaining tuart forest.