Award-winning Project Cultivate levels up with City of Melbourne partnership

11 February 2025

The Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) is excited to announce our partnership with the City of Melbourne to deliver the final phase of Project Cultivate. The funding will help complete our successful initiative to enhance and restore a more biodiverse, natural and sustainable environment at Melbourne General Cemetery (MGC).

The partnership is a further recognition of the innovative project’s success, after our recent win at the Keep Australia Beautiful 2024 Tidy Cities Sustainability Awards.

Soil quality improvements through mulching have enabled even more colourful native flowers to be included in the planting lists.

More funding means more green (but first the mulch)

The City of Melbourne has provided $500,000 for Project Cultivate in matched funding through their Urban Forest Fund. This grants program supports greening projects in the city, including greening open spaces and biodiversity projects.

With support from this funding, we’re in the process of adding an additional 2,234m3 of organic mulch and 245,965 indigenous grassland plants to 23.42 acres across currently unplanted areas of MGC.

“This partnership will ensure the cemetery is cleaner and greener, while future-proofing the area for generations to come.”

City of Melbourne CEO Alison Leighton

Benefits of Project Cultivate to date

Commenced in early 2023, Project Cultivate focuses on planting locally native plants, wildflowers and grasses to improve the biodiversity of MGC while complementing the surrounding monuments, pathways and facilities. So far, we’ve added 3,100m3 of mulch and 261,727 indigenous grasslands across 32.64 acres, which has delivered a range of benefits, including:

3°c decrease in ambient air temperature around planted areas.

Improved soil quality, reduction in erosion, run-off and water pooling.

70% reduction in herbicide use.

A visible increase in biodiversity including increased activity from beneficial insects and birds.

Undertaken in consultation with and involvement from families, the local community and Traditional Owners, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with the project successfully bringing new life to MGC.

Indigenous grasses and flowers create a more sustainable, biodiverse landscape for reflection at Melbourne General Cemetery.

Sustainability award winner

In October, Project Cultivate was announced as the winner of the 2024 Tidy Cities Sustainability Awards in the environment category. The awards are coordinated by Keep Australia Beautiful (Victoria), one of the country’s longest running environmental nonprofits dedicated to protecting and enhancing the environment through community-led initiatives.

The award-winning Project Cultivate team celebrate their achievements with Keep Australia Beautiful (Victoria)

The Tidy Towns & Cities Sustainability Awards have been recognising and rewarding projects and actions in Victoria since 1982. They celebrate achievements across 10 categories that contribute to a sustainable, resilient and beautiful town or city. Project Cultivate won in the environment category, which recognises projects that protect, restore and prevent damage to the natural environment.

“We’re seeing biodiversity come back to the site, we’ve had kingfishers move in, native bees, wildflowers, things that haven’t been seen there for 150 years,” said SMCT Horticultural Assets Manager Helen Tuton.

“The best part for us is that this project is another way for us to serve the Victorian community and the public. It’s at the heart of everything we do. To be able to present our site in a different way and to engage the community with citizen science and initiatives like planting days.”

During our most recent community planting day on October 12, we were able to plant an additional 2,150 locally native wildflowers and groundcovers with the help of around 80 volunteers, including ten new species to the Project Cultivate grassland.

“Cemeteries are all about legacy and this is just another way we can create a legacy at the cemetery. This is a self-sustaining landscape that’ll be there for another 50 to 150 years,” says Helen Tuton.

The popular community planting days will continue to feature in Project Cultivate planning.

Learn more about Project Cultivate

By mid-2025, all areas suitable for this type of horticulture treatment at MGC will have been mulched and planted, recreating a threatened, self-sustaining Indigenous grassland ecosystem across 53% of this iconic, publicly accessible and centrally located Melbourne landmark.

Find out more about Project Cultivate by visiting the website at smct.org.au/cultivate or to get involved, contact us at environment@smct.org.au.