Man who has planted 500,000 native seedlings, Trees Australia’s Bruce Ivers, hits milestone at Myalup Beach

Few people can talk with as much passion about planting native seedlings as Bruce Ivers — and given he is responsible for planting over half a million, it is not a surprise.

Mr Ivers founded Trees Australia in 2008, which has become the largest school-based tree planting program in the country, taking students into nature to plant seedlings across the Wheatbelt and along the coast line.

During one of these planting days last month, Mr Ivers hit the phenomenal number of 500,000 native seedlings planted while at Myalup Beach.

Mr Ivers said while planting half a million native seedlings is a huge achievement, the 6800 students who have been involved with the project over the years are much more important.

“I want to give these kids hope and the confidence that they can make a difference,” he said.

“It’s really important to give the kids an example of what you can do to make a difference.”

As part of the Trees Australia program, students primarily from Perth are able to get their hands dirty out on the field.

Mr Ivers said students were always fond of his planting days as they felt like they were doing something useful.

He has been proud to see how his planting process has been adopted by teachers over the years, developing a greater scientific understanding whilst being engaged outside in the environment.

“That’s what’s important to me,” Mr Ivers said.

“Those are the things I get a little kick out of.”

With a history working in wheat, Mr Ivers has taken to this task as a farmer.

Planting as many seeds on-mass as possible, he has worked to refine his planting techniques over the years, hoping to insure the best survival possible for all of his plants.

Mr Ivers started planting on Myalup Beach in 2018 and quickly learned the coastal environment was drastically different to the Wheatbelt.

Among the changes learned were the need for natural shelter and fertilisers, and the alkaline nature of the sandy soils.

Mr Ivers said when he first arrived in Myalup, ready to plant, one of the residents told him he might as well throw all of the plants in the bin as it would be a waste to plant them in the dunes.

“I thought, it’s only a waste because we don’t understand how to do it, so let’s go out and try to figure out how, and let’s teach kids at the same time,” he said.

“We just need to apply a little bit of science and some passion and give kids the opportunity to learn some of these skills.”

He has been joined on the for beach for the past six years by Myalup Community Association secretary Kurt Zink, who said Mr Ivers’ tremendous effort in resorting the dunes helped keep the town of Myalup above ground.

Mr Zink recalled when standing on the dunes in the 1980s, he could only see the top branches of towering tuart trees poking out of the sand in some places.

“There have been quite a few people who have put in some fabulous efforts to revegetate over the decades, and Bruce has been a real stalwart in the past decade,” he said.

In the past six years, Mr Ivers and students from across the State have planted more than 90,000 native seedlings along Myalup Beach, which alongside seedlings planted elsewhere allowed him to reach the half a million mark.

Mr Ivers said hitting the milestone has been very exciting and he would love to see the whole of the dunes revegetated in his lifetime, though now age 70, he is concerned his age may be against him.

He said it would be possible to make it to the full one million, but he would need help getting there.

“I have done this largely by myself up to date,” he said.

“I would really need some better funding and some younger people who are keep to learn what I can teach them in order to make that happen.”

Mr Ivers said he is hopeful his hands-on approach to learning and conservation will stick with students and in the years to come they will look back at their days on the beach, knowing with passion and persistence they too can make a difference.