Community work to plant hundreds of trees is brightening the future of Woowookarung Regional Park for both animal and human visitors.
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Thirty people planted 500 trees in three sessions at a former pine plantation section of the park near Katy Ryans Road on Sunday and Monday.
Friends of Canadian Corridor secretary and tree planting organiser Jeff Rootes said it was lucky the planting could go ahead in line with restrictions before lockdown hit Ballarat again.
The planting session had already been rescheduled twice and it was important to get the trees in the ground while it was still wet.
We knew it was always going to be a people's park.
- Jeff Rootes, Friends of Canadian Corridor
Tree planting volunteers ranged from small children, to a U3A walking group that could spare some time.
Mr Rootes said everyone had a sense of well-being looking back on what they had achieved at the end of the session and felt they were making a difference to the park and its future.
"Probably half of the people had planted before and for some it was a discovery of how much is being done, but how much is needed to be done," he said.
"Tree planting is wonderful to meet new people and feel part of the neighbourhood."
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Mr Rootes said the number of visitors to Woowookarung Regional Park was growing exponentially.
He said 4000 visitors had used the dementia trail since it was completed 10 weeks ago.
"The community support we have got on all bits and pieces going on in the park is amazing," he said.
"There are a range of groups and people interested in the park, whether it be in health, tree planting, environmental stuff or others simply enjoying the best view in Ballarat from the lookout.
"In this COVID time we have never seen so many people in the park. It is not just fit people, but people in wheelchairs and prams going on the formed paths.
"We have created access for the less able people to have a bush experience."
Mr Rootes played a key role in securing the area's status as a regional park, which was promised by the Labor Party in the lead up to the 2014 state election.
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"Because it was next to Ballarat, we knew it was always going to be a people's park and it would be used by a lot of different groups," he said.
"Its use is way beyond what we thought would happen."
Mr Rootes said the eucalypts planted this week would help address gorse issues in the area and link up vegetation corridors.
It is the fifth year Friends of Canadian Corridor has completed tree planting in the park, adding to more than 2800 new trees.
Mr Rootes said there were increasing reports of birds and wildlife in the area.
Friends of Canadian Corridor plans to continue planting trees and working with Parks Victoria to implement the park plan for facilities, trails, visitor nodes and signage in the coming years.
The group is busy preparing for the upcoming wildflower walk, backyard bird count and the ongoing koala counting program in the park.
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