At 76, retired GP plants 45,000 trees on her Western Australian farm
Retired GP Susan Downes restored 120 hectares with about 45,000 planted trees and roughly 290,000 other volunteers.
Susan Downes found her house in York, Western Australia came with 200 hectares. Downes discovered a 295-metre hill at the back with ancient trees but almost no understorey after about 150 years of grazing.
Downes began restoring it with small grants, applied for more, and was awarded 24,000 trees over three years. Today the restoration spans 120 hectares under a conservation covenant that stops the land ever being cleared again.
Some of her trees now tower over her head and are visible from kilometres away. Downes is part of a cohort of older Australians repairing the natural world: roughly 290,000 volunteers through environmental groups, with 80 per cent of Landcare Australia's volunteers aged 55 or older.
- 76
- Downes age
- 45,000
- Trees planted
- 120 hectares
- Restoration area
- 290,000
- Environmental volunteers in Australia
Why it mattersIt shows how individual Australians can restore ecosystems at scale, and how retirement can become a second act of environmental repair.
AustraliaDemonstrates a growing volunteer movement of older Australians restoring native bush, wetlands and wildlife habitat across the country, adding to conservation efforts that government funding alone cannot reach.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 1 h ago
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