Dumbleyung named as Tidy Towns Awards finalists after planting 40,000 seedlings in a single weekend

The people of Dumbleyung have been recognised for their community spirit and dedication to environmentalism in coming together to plant 40,000 native seedlings during a single weekend. That impressive feat has led to them being named as finalists for one of the State’s top sustainability awards. Dumbleyung Landcare joined forces with the Shire of Dumbleyung and the community in July last year in a bid to rehabilitate degraded and salt-affected land. They are now in the running to win in the environmental sustainability category of the Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities Awards, with the winners to be announced on November 26. About 150 volunteers from Activate the Wheatbelt and 15 local community members got involved in the planting to help rebuild flora and fauna biodiversity in the area. In total, 1962 hours of volunteer labour were poured into the event by both metropolitan and local volunteers — an effort Shire spokeswoman Amber Bateup said helped build relationships between urban and rural communities. “By bringing people from city and urban areas out into the country, they are able to get an insight into the environmental problems that are out in the bush and what issues are facing farmers,” she said. “This was a unique event — for Activate the Wheatbelt to come out to a place like this is quite big and exciting.” Ms Bateup said it was amazing for the community to be recognised for their efforts and she hoped the publicity would help spread the word about conservation.