ENVIRONMENTAL groups are calling for the protection of 500-year-old trees in Wellsford Forest.
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Bendigo Family Nature Club and Bendigo Sustainability Group are having a ‘Walk to the Big Trees’ awareness event on Sunday.
The trees are the nine remaining pre-European ironbarks on public land in Bendigo.
The walk will be two kilometres and the event will take about two hours. There will be talks from historical and naturalist perspectives, with a picnic afterwards.
The forest is 6,500 hectares and stretches as far as Mount Sugarloaf, near Axedale.
Bendigo Family Nature Club Stuart Fraser said the ironbarks were the 'elders' of the forest.
“The big trees are a great asset, part of our heritage,” Mr Fraser said.
"The Wellsford Forest is one of the last remaining riches of such biodiversity and supports one of the most profitable areas for honey bees and pollination services in the world," Mr Fraser said.
Wellsford Forest was once considered a Greater Bendigo National Park but is now classed as a State Forest, allowing tree cutting for logs and firewood.
Register for the walk by emailing wellsfordinfo@gmail.com
