Accor is planting along the Wollondilly River to improve water quality for Sydney
News
January 2009Nicolas Métro who created Kinomé,
the company in charge of the reforestation projects’ audit on behalf of the Accor group, met the Greening Australia teams. (...)Progress report
- More than 3,000 trees from the Richmond nursery must be planted starting in the autumn.
Accor's commitment
The project is funded from the savings achieved in hotels in New Zealand and Australia: every time a towel is re-used by a customer, the hotels pay 50% of the cleaning charge saved to the project in Australia.
The project
Accor, in partnership with the NGO Greening Australia, is helping restore 25km of riparian zone along the Wollondilly River, south west of Sydney. This river is a tributary of the Hawkesbury Nepean, which provides water to approximately 70% of the population of Greater Sydney, more than five million people.
The system is under pressure from low rainfall levels, farming and increasing urbanisation. The banks of the Wollondilly will be restored by implementing livestock exclusion zones, erosion management measures and replanting of native species, to improve water quality and ulitmately link two large existing remnant forests.
The planting
Seeds are sown from April in the Greening Australia nursery of Richmond, a suburb on the western fringe of the Sydney Basin. They are ready for transfer to the site for planting in September/October.
Greening Australia plants the saplings in October to ensure that survival rates are maximized. Accor funded trees will restore approximately 2 hectares of the Arthursleigh site, which is 100km south west of Sydney. The planted species are native to Australia, in particular eucalyptus melliodora, acacia decurrens and casuarina cunnighamiana.
The local benefits
Riverbank rehabilitation preserves the local water cycle and improves water quality for the people of the greater Sydney region.
Over time, the project will bring together volunteers and specialist students from the University of Sydney to monitor and evaluate project outcomes and reinforce the value of reforestation and the restoration of local ecosystems. The project will be utilised as a demonstration site to promote further environmental work in the Upper Nepean catchment.
Our NGO partner in Australia is Greening Australia
Greening Australia
Greening Australia was founded in 1982 by the United Nations Association of Australia and the Nursery Industry Association of Australia. Its aim is to transform Australia’s unique native landscapes through restoration, protection and conservation.
Its work focuses on restoration/reforestation. In this field, Greening Australia provides scientific expertise, landscape scale strategic planning, native plants and restoration expertise, community engagement, advice, training and project financing.
Greening Australia works with communities to develop and deliver programs that achieve substantial environmental outcomes and ensure that native landscapes are there for future generations.
Testimonials
Greening Australia is pleased to be partnering with Accor in the “Plant for the Planet” program...
Plant for the Planet is a fantastic initiative that will deliver substantial environmental outcomes across 7 landscapes internationally. In Australia the program has allowed Greening Australia to expand our existing Hawkesbury Nepean River Recovery program into a critically important landscape, and address vegetation, erosion and water quality issues that are impacting more than 5 million residents of the greater Sydney region.
Greening Australia is dedicated to building resilient and sustainable native landscapes and is pleased to be partnering with Accor in the “Plant for the Planet” program to help achieve this.
Colin Falls, Communications & Corporate Engagement Manager Greening Australia
