OUR MISSION TO PLANT THOUSANDS OF TREES

THE MISSION

Today we launched our new AirWeave colourway, the Native Green AirWeave Mask. We wanted to use this opportunity to raise awareness of a cause that is tied to the origins of AusAir, the need to breathe clean air. Every time a Native Green mask is purchased, we will plant a native tree in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor of Western Australia. Ultimately these trees will help to create the largest restored carbon sink in Australia to clean the air we breathe and to build vital habitats for native fauna to flourish.

The Yarra Yarra Corridor is located in a traditional wheat belt region of Western Australia and is one of only 34 international biodiversity hotspots. It is severely under threat from land clearing. We’ve teamed up with Carbon Neutral, who, since 2008 have been planting mixed native trees in the area, removing carbon from the atmosphere and increasing biodiversity to the region.

 

1) CLEANING THE AIR BY PLANTING TREES

Trees and plants capture carbon from the atmosphere as they grow. In return, they produce oxygen vital for all living things.

Through a concerted effort of planting mixed natives and through ecosystem restoration this initiative in the Yarra Yarra can create an effective carbon sink and help reduce pollution from greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon Neutral estimates that the native trees and bushland planted in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor will capture more than a million tonnes of greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.

 

2) THE IMPORTANCE OF INCREASING BIODIVERSITY

This project doesn’t just create cleaner air for us to breathe. It is also creating habitat refuges for native animals and threatened species like the Malleefowl, Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, and the Western Spiny-tailed Skink.

The goal of the biodiversity corridor is to connect isolated habitats along the Yarra Yarra together. This restoration and intentional design helps link together existing bush with our new plantings and nature reserves, creating larger, self-sustaining habitats for more flora and fauna to survive and increase in number.

That’s why up to 60 different species of native trees and shrubs are planted, this includes Eucalyptus, Acacia, Melaleuca, and Banksia species. These provide a natural habitat for unique Australian flora and fauna to thrive.

“Western Australia is renowned as the location of thousands of species of flora and fauna found nowhere else on Earth, and while the areas of outback denuded for farming dramatically reduced the habitats for many varieties of wildlife, Carbon Neutral is beginning to turn it around.” - Michael Cooper, Carbon Neutral

3) THINKING LONG TERM: A 200KM BIODIVERSITY CORRIDOR

The Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor is already the largest reforestation carbon sink in Australia, the goal is to expand this even further. The target is a 200km long green corridor from inland all the way to the coast, reconnecting remnant vegetation with 12 nature reserves across a 10,000km2 area.

Change doesn’t happen overnight, but at AusAir we are committed we’re making a difference every single day. By purchasing our Native Green AirWeave Merino Mask you are participating in this new chapter of the Yarra Yarra corridor and building a home for generations of native flora and fauna.