OLYMPIC LANDCARE PROJECT

The "Green Olympics"

On Saturday 8 July 2000, KBULG hosted its own Green Olympics. It took just 2 hours for about 400 community members to plant 2000 trees and shrubs in Karlkurla Bushland Park, 4km north of the city centre. Kalgoorlie-Boulder was chosen as one of 500 sites across Australia for the Olympic Tree Planting event. A total of 1 million trees were planted around Australia prior to the "Green Games".

The newly planted site at Karlkurla Park was dedicated to Kalgoorlie-Boulder's Olympic Landcare Patron, Terry Walsh, the 2000 Olympics Men's Hockey Coach. Terry was born in Kalgoorlie and played in the 1976 and 1984 Australian Men's Olympic Hockey Team. Terry and local torchbearers planted Karlkurla vines as their contribution to the Olympic Landcare Tree Planting Day. The Karlkurla or native silky pear, which the park is named after, grows as a vine and produces an edible fruit. Karlkurla is the name from which Kalgoorlie is derived.

KBULG staff and management with Terry Walsh and local torch bearers Goldfields Limited - winners of the Corporate Challenge

As part of the day, KBULG organised a Community and Corporate Challenge for local businesses and community groups. The 1st Kalgoorlie Scouts convincingly won the Community Challenge with the most participants. The Corporate Challenge was won by Goldfields Ltd, closely followed by WMC Ltd - Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter.