In 2019 we saw the devastating impact bushfires across Australia have had on our communities and already threated wildlife, leaving in ashes what were once some of the most ecologically vibrant landscapes to be seen.

Closer to home, the Cudlee Creek bushfire in the Adelaide Hills and the bushfire on Kangaroo Island left a trail of destruction on koala habitat, which rely upon eucalypt trees for food, water and shelter.

Girl Guides South Australia is working to restore a vital wildlife corridor for koalas and other wildlife in the local community and wider habitation. Given that habitat destruction is already the number one threat to koalas, now more than ever we must rebuild and restore.

Girl Guides South Australia worked with the McLaren Vale Natives, a local family owned and operated nursery which specialises in eucalypts and native plants seeds, producing ‘Grow a Seed’ kits to provide the right type of Eucalypt leaves for koala’s to eat.

This life-saving gift will benefit not only koalas, but an abundance of other native wildlife including birds, gliders, possums and bats.  Through the replanting of native trees and plants, the wider community will be assisting with the survival of our flora and fauna.

The Douglas Scrub Campsite at Blewitt Springs is in the same regional area that was affected by the recent bushfires and is already being utilised as a koala sanctuary. With over 27 hectares, the planting of native trees will not only provide much needed food to koalas but will also give the community fundamental value of creating a future and looking after our environment. The Grow a Seed Project help to create an awareness of the loss that we have endured to bushfires, loss of our natural environment, loss of nature resources and the impact that it has had on our wildlife while providing an opportunity to make a real difference that is low cost, no technology and is an outdoors activity that everyone can participate regardless of age or ability.

The Grow a Seed program provides long-term thinking that will allow us the most effective path towards solving problems – those that are local as well as global. The seeds that will be planted literally and metaphorically will be the foundation upon which we can all grow the future.

The ‘Grow A Seed’ Program will ran from June to August 2020.