READY TO GO: John McKinney and Gemma Mincherton prepare for planting with native species.
GREEN THUMBS: Burry Dufall, Genny Broadhurst, and Janet Dufall, members of the Margaret River Coastal Residence Association.
HELPING HANDS: Dharma and Phoenix Surridge, 9, get help from Blair Darvill of the South West Catchment Council.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: Tane and Russell Murphy help make the scenery nicer for their daily bike rides.
GENEROUS VOLUNTEERS: David and Margaret Leggott are often involved in clean-up projects around Margaret River, including rubbish collection and community tree pruning.
BROTHER TEAM: Luis, 3, and Oscar Home, 5, squint in the sunlight as they hold plants of the same species.
MORE than 50 volunteers showed up for the first Margaret River community planting day at the White Elephant car park on Saturday and helped place about 1400 native plants.
A joint initiation between the Augusta-Margaret River Shire, Margaret River Coastal Residence Association, and South West Catchment Council, this was the first official open public planting day aimed to rehabilitate coastal land damaged by the bushfires.
Shire environment officer John McKinney said it was good to help people get together and talk about the fire, but also to do something about it at the same time.
In the highly visible site beside the car park entrance, people planted an assortment of native plant species, including chenille honey-myrtle and coastal daisy bush, which were supplied by the small tube nursery in Cowaramup.
Volunteers, including children, were taught to plant groups of the same species together in order for them to thrive. Wind blocks were also created.
Emma Surridge, of Margaret River, said her house overlooked the area and she looked forward to seeing the bush life come alive.
"It’s great to be part of something like this... to feel you’re creating the green for the future," Emma said.
Volunteers had hope for plant regrowth after Genny Broadhurst of the MRCRA, showed the group an apparently dead plant that had newly sprouting roots beneath the soil. "What looks like dead melaleuca is actually on its way back to us," Genny said.
Volunteers enjoyed complimentary soup and bread rolls at the White Elephant afterwards.
John said another planting day is planned for the near future, possibly in July.
