As part of Aviva Australia¿s ongoing commitment to improve the impact we have on the environment, 80 Aviva staff members and their families recently volunteered at a family tree planting day.
As part of Aviva Australia's ongoing commitment to improve the impact we have on the environment, 80 Aviva staff members and their families recently volunteered at a family tree planting day.
Braving blustery conditions, in a striking rural landscape around 60 kilometres (37 miles) west of Melbourne, the day kicked off an ambitious tree planting schedule. "On the day, we planted 3,000 seedlings, far exceeding our expectations," said Aaron Tunks, from Aviva.
The planting will play a vital role in the re-vegetation process of degraded land and will contribute towards the regeneration of indigenous plant-life. This in turn will form a natural habitat for native birds, insects and larger animals such as kangaroos.
Representatives from across the whole business ‘chipped in' to plant the seedlings which, over time, will grow into trees and shrubs that will fight the effects of soil erosion, salinity and the invasion of weeds and pests.
Aaron said: "We became involved through ‘Grow West' which is part of a major public project scheme and found the planting day to be a really rewarding experience. It was great getting my hands dirty and seeing our actions result in real change on the ground. The Grow West program is committed to restoring landscapes and increasing biodiversity and as a team we had a fun day actually planting the trees to make it happen."
This project is a joint initiative between Aleaders (Aviva Australia's leadership team) and the Aviva Australia Green Team, a voluntary committee of staff members who strive to make all staff aware of more environmentally friendly practices that can be employed around the office and can be adopted into our working routines. The initiative is assisted with a generous AUD$30,000 donation from Aviva Australia, with a long term plan to plant 8,000 indigenous seedlings. Aviva family tree planting day will become an annual fixture on the Aviva Australia calendar.