Staff and students at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Orange will plant native trees to increase environmental biodiversity next week as part of a CSU Green initiative for National Tree Planting Day. The event will see CSU in Albury-Wodonga, Orange and Wagga Wagga all take part in tree planting days. CSU Green Coordinator of Partnerships Nicola Smith said the event was designed to effect the campus ecosystems. “Our goals are to increase biodiversity by providing homes and food for wildlife, which brings more wildlife to the area, more ground cover, understorey and overstorey,” Ms Smith said. “We’ll also aim to reduce topsoil loss and erosion, increase soil infiltration, influence microclimate, and increase aesthetics for each campus.” Plants will come from local nurseries that specialise in native plants. Interested staff and students will determine where to planting the native trees on each campus. Miss Smith said students drew a sense of satisfaction from taking some ownership of their own campuses and would be thanked with a barbecue lunch. The tree planting events are set for Albury-Wodonga on Friday 16 and Sunday 18 August, Wagga Wagga on Sunday 18 August and Orange on Monday 19 August.