GreenGrid
Since 1997 TransGrid has had an ongoing relationship with Greening Australia in the southern region of NSW. The relationship was strengthened through 'GreenGrid', a joint initiative and partnership between the two organisations.
Our long relationship with Greening Australia laid the foundations for a new, more targeted drive of community conservation activity in southern NSW. This focuses on bridging the gap between existing Greening Australia sites and TransGrid's developing transmission network. It is aimed at:
"Protecting and connecting habitat for threatened woodland birds while simultaneously managing native vegetation to achieve multiple natural resource management objectives"
GreenGrid's tag line: 'Bringing life to landscapes, bringing landscapes to life', seems aptly chosen. In terms of both environmental and community benefits, the achievements of GreenGrid are indeed life-enhancing, and continue to grow.
The GreenGrid partnership targets loss of biodiversity, deteriorating water quality and increasing salinity in the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee catchments by:
- Engaging farmers in practical action across the landscape.
- Encouraging a co-operative arrangement where TransGrid staff and the community volunteer to help get the job done.
GreenGrid Achievements
The GreenGrid partnership has engaged more than 335 landholders and over a thousand community volunteers who collectively have erected 375kms of fencing, planted 224,000 tube stock (200ha) and direct seeded 1726kms (600ha) of tree line.
In the course of 100 community events, 160,000 tube stock have been propagated and 20,000 planted, with the balance distributed to rural communities. Overall, this is a significant contribution to community and environment, developed over many years.
The multiple benefits to land and biodiversity have been considerable. So, too, the carbon offsets. It is estimated that from 2003 to 2007, GreenGrid has sequestered some 16,000 tonnes of carbon.
The future directions of GreenGrid will continue to build on past achievements while also broadening the focus of the partnership to offset TransGrid’s ecological and carbon footprints across the whole business.