A plant nursery
was established at Pundulmurra College with the ultimate aim of improving
health standards in Aboriginal communities. The following services
were offered:
- Provide native plants for revegetation of Aboriginal communities.
- Provide communities with exotic fruit trees that will grow in the Pilbara.
- Provide an advisory and training service to those communities which are keen
to grow trees.
Growing trees
can help improve health by:
- Controlling dust (which causes eye and skin diseases), with shelterbelts
and groundcovers.
- Making communities cooler with shade trees.
- Improving nutrition with plant foods, which can be incorporated into shelter
belts and amenity planting.
- Increasing access to plants that can be used for medicine, which once again
can be incorporated into shelterbelts and amenity planting.
- Trees planted for firewood and artefacts, reducing pressure on existing vegetation
resources.
- Amenity planting greening communities creating a more pleasant environment
to live in.
- The creation of microclimates to assist in the growing of exotic food plants
that would otherwise struggle to survive in the Pilbara climate.
- Planting of evapotranspiration trenches reducing problems with exposed and
excess waste water.
Pundulmurra
plant nursery produced a book with more detailed information on revegetation.
Pundulmurra nursery staff also visited communities to talk about their
revegetation needs. This later developed into to the Pilbara Aboriginal
Landcare Service and many trees were supplied to communities over the
5 years of its operation and many demonstration projects such as windbreaks,
fencing and shade trees were established.
