Green Skills to undertake revegetation project on Southern Ports land in Albany

More than 900 native trees, shrubs and ground covers will be planted over the next three years by Green Skills to improve the natural buffer overlooking Albany’s port. Southern Ports has awarded a contract to the not-for-profit organisation to carry out the planting along a stretch of Brunswick Road. The revegetation project will occur on cleared land to the southeast of the port authority’s office. Acacias, Banksias, and Hakeas will be among the native plants that will provide improved habitat for native species such as the quendas, ring tail possums and black cockatoos. Green Skills Albany operations manager Jason Balhorn said they were pleased to be appointed for a three-year term and looked forward to seeing the area grow. “We’re excited to build on our partnership with Southern Ports to ensure this native area flourishes,” he said. “We not only have a long history in bush regeneration but we’re also locals and want what’s best for our local wildlife.” Southern Ports chief executive Keith Wilks said Green Skills was a well-known and skilled organisation. “Our ports operate in some of the most beautiful environments in Western Australia,” he said. “We know across all of our port operations that we have a responsibility to respect the environment and where possible, leave it better than we found it. “We’ve appointed a project partner with a wealth of experience to work closely with us to revegetate the area to ensure it is thriving.” The contract will also include weed control, native seedling supply, mulch/chip supply and installation to suppress weeds, access track maintenance, and labour. Green Skills will focus its attention on preparing the site over the coming months by managing existing weeds before the first batch of natives are planted in May.