ABSTRACT
The Forktree Project began in April 2019 to restore 53 hectares of degraded farmland to its natural state. The project’s primary goals are to conserve local species and to engage other peri-urban landholders to undertake similar actions by demonstrating how they can contribute to conservation, habitat restoration, and to combatting climate change. Restoring Forktree involves planting approximately 20,000 native trees and shrubs to re-wild the site, encouraging natural regeneration, and managing introduced species. Forktree is providing habitat to rare and threatened species and it will continue to bring back other native animals to the site. Achieving and demonstrating success and encouraging others to embark on similar projects involves engaging local and wider communities. The Forktree Project engages through educational and interpretive activities, working bees, planting days and other events and outreaches. The expansion of Adelaide’s suburbs to Forktree’s north and rapid growth and urban agglomeration of nearby towns to the south are progressively consuming open space and habitat in the region, increasing the need and urgency for projects like Forktree to sustain ecosystem services and connections with nature for the encroaching urban populations.
