Burning desire for growth

Carmel D'Arcy and Babu Bhattarai plant native grasses. (Gary Sissons; 425644)

Families got their hands dirty, planting seedlings and habitat for wildlife at Dandenong Wetlands on Saturday 17 August.

Imbued with smoke from a Welcome for Country from Mark Brown, the green thumbs planted hundreds of native grasses and ground-covers behind Dandenong Stadium in Dandenong North.

As previously reported by Star Journal, Federation University is also conducting a pilot program monitoring thousands of new plants in the wetlands.

The aim is to assess how specially-selected native plants respond to predicted impacts of climate change.

Three plots are close to Dandenong Stadium with each plot covering at least 1250 square metres and housing 1760 plants.

Five different plant species collected over four different climate zones will be looked at during this pilot program.

The plants were selected from different locations, factoring in the predicted temperature changes from 2024 to 2050 and 2090.

Pictures: GARY SISSONS