In August 2008 volunteers from Belmont Forum, City of Belmont, Edith Cowan University, Jones Lang LaSalle, The Salvation Army, Synergy and the Water Corporation all pitched in their time to take part in Earthbeat Day 2008. Earthbeat Day is a three year sustainability project, initiated by Belmont Forum’s Earthbeat Committee in August 2006. Since then many generous volunteers have helped in planting over 7,000 seedlings. This group of volunteers assembled in late August for the final stage of this areas planting for Earthbeat Day 2008.

Earthbeat Committee Member and Marketing Manager of Belmont Forum, Jill Goodwin stated “It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we take the time to act together. 7,000 seedlings is a great achievement which we are very proud of”.

These results could not have been achieved without the many helpful volunteers and the resources of City of Belmont. Deputy Mayor for City of Belmont, Phil Marks stated

“The City of Belmont is committed to the protection and enhancement of the natural environment. The City welcomes the involvement of community and corporate groups, such as Belmont Forum in environmental restoration projects. Establishment of local, native plants, as has occurred at Redcliffe Park can result in the following environmental benefits:

• Enhanced biodiversity and provision of habitat (food/ shelter) for native fauna
• Creation of wildlife corridors
• Improvement in air quality and creation of a carbon sink, thereby offsetting carbon emissions
• Soil stabilisation and a reduction in wind and water erosion
• Reduced requirement for groundwater for irrigation, through turf reduction”.

Since the completion of the Redcliffe Park sustainability project, Belmont Forum’s Earthbeat Committee plan to continue their work in other areas of City of Belmont in the hopes of helping our environment and ensuring the results of their many volunteers can be enjoyed by our children.