![The site of a planting spree at Winton Wetlands earlier this year. More trees and shrubs will be planted this Spring as part of the restoration project. Picture supplied by Winton Wetlands. The site of a planting spree at Winton Wetlands earlier this year. More trees and shrubs will be planted this Spring as part of the restoration project. Picture supplied by Winton Wetlands.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/128816459/02ee7a23-b2d2-4073-92b7-13ed3f4c4482.jpg/r0_394_1440_1440_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Thousands of plantings at Winton Wetlands will soon be complete, after a court ordered a Benalla company to pay $80,000 for revegetation work.
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Benalla Magistrate's Court ordered a particle board manufacturer D & R Henderson to pay the fine to the wetlands last year, after the facility exceeded its licence limits for airborne emissions and failed to notify the Environment Protection Authority of the breaches.
Winton Wetlands restoration manager Dr Lisa Farnsworth said the funding covered the planting of 6000 trees and shrubs.
"It's going towards something that's actively restoring the environment, so it's got to be a good thing," she said.
"Given that it's an air pollution issue, we're putting things back in the ground that are actually going to be improving air quality."
Given that it's an air pollution issue, we're putting things back in the ground that are actually going to be improving air quality
- Lisa Farnsworth
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The $80,000 fine also paid for additional seeding by members of the Regent Honey Eater Project and the development of an indigenous planting guide for the general public.
Dr Farnsworth said the plantings would improve diversity.
"It's going to be important to add extra layers of structure in," she said.
"So getting the shrub layer in, the grass layer in, because it encourages more species to use that stretch of habitat.
"It also encourages ... different species to actually shelter or feed or breed in even."
Students from nearby schools - Marian College, Myrtleford, Numurkah Secondary College, and Sacred Heart College, Yarrawonga - were also involved in the planting process, as well as a number of community volunteers.
Merriwa Industries, Park Lane Nursery, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, the Regent Honey Eater Project and Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation were also involved in the planting project.
"It's actually been a big collaboration between a few different organisations," Dr Farnsworth said.
"We couldn't get it all done without the fantastic contributions that are being made by local schools and members of the public."
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