Trees Australia. Tree planting with school students. Activities that make a Real Difference.

Bruce has a small business called Trees Australia where he takes groups, especially school students on tree planting excursions. The presentation will examine environmental problems in WA, young people’s response to those problems, and the solutions Trees Australia use to give young people the hope and confidence to tackle large scale environmental rehabilitation projects.

Bruce grew up on a farm near Kojonup in the Great Southern, attended Marcus Oldham Farm Management College in Geelong, Victoria and came home to run the farm. He was an early adopter of what is now No-Till cropping and was the first farmer in the Kojonup area to run an all cropping farm business.

After leaving farming he went to university and in 1999 he graduated from the Curtin University Graduate School of Business with a Master of Leadership and Management degree. This experience led to another change in direction and in 2008 he started what is now Trees Australia with the goal of giving young people hope that they can solve large scale environmental problems. Since he started Trees Australia, 6000 school students have planted over 450,000 seedlings in Perth and regional WA.

Wherever possible he uses a scientific approach to make management decisions for planting projects based on the results from his own trial plots planted by the school students.

Bruce also organises the Two Knowledges bushwalk, a joint presentation by an indigenous educator and a western trained ecologist who demonstrate how western science and Noongar science overlap and support each other.

Bruce is Deputy Chair of WA Landcare Network, volunteers for the Bicton Environmental Action Group, and the Friends of Ken Hurst Park.

In 2019, he was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Melville for his activities supporting the club’s environmental goals.