We love tree skiing.
We've done it through Western Redcedars and Whistler Spruce in Canada, Quaking Aspens in the US and snow laden White Birch in Japan, but if you ask us, you haven't tree skied until you've been coat hangered by an unseen Eucalypt branch here in Australia. It's surely on everyone's bucket list.
So it's about time we gave back to the alpine regions and the snow gums that have given us so much. The Snowy Mountains are not only incredibly important to lovers of alpine sports like us, they also have immense historical and ecological significance, being Australia's largest alpine region, home to hundreds of endemic plant and animal species.
This is what it's all about. As much as we love seeing the snowy mountains with a white coat, it's the unique flora and fauna that really captures our hearts. Photo:: Aedan O'Donnell
To help rejuvenate a region that's been hit especially hard this year by the likes of fires and Covid-19, we're teaming up with Keep it Cool, a "tree-roots" not-for-profit organisation and our friends at We Are Explorers to plant 6,000 native trees in the Snowy Mountains region. By doing so we'll be creating new habitat for wildlife, beautifying the natural area and assisting with carbon sequestration.
One of the few thousand trees we hope to plant across the Snowy Mountain region. Photo:: Boen Ferguson
The only thing missing is some shade! Photo:: Boen Ferguson
"We plant a mix of hardwood trees, mostly eucalypts, and then a middle understory of various species, like wattles and grevilleas. So when the forest grows up and graduates, it will resemble a natural forest that’s grown that way for years, as closely as we can." - Lucas Wilkinson (Keep It Cool Founder)
The goal is to raise $30,000, with every $5 donated guaranteeing a new tree.
Crowdfunding will commence Tuesday 17 November and last just under one month.
Sign up to Rewild The Snowies to learn more about the project.
FIND OUT MORE: REWILD THE SNOWIES
