This year's venue will be the Lake Canobolas Reserve.

The holes have already been dug and tree guards are positioned beside each hole.

All we have to do is plant the trees. Meet at the Lake Kiosk at 10am.

Started in 1996 by Planet Ark and Olivia Newton John, National Tree Day is traditionally celebrated on the last Sunday of July.

Local native plants are recommended for planting as they are adapted to local conditions and will provide habitat for local wildlife.

National Tree Day is Australia's largest hands on planting event.

On Sunday everyone is invited to get their hands dirty and give back to nature.

While we are planting we need to remind ourselves how useful trees are, and why we should protect them.

We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Trees breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, which is a pretty good arrangement for both of us.

As well as that, forests provide habitat for two thirds of known terrestrial biodiversity, play a critical role in the climate cycle, help maintain fresh water reserves, limit soil erosion and provide shelter and sustenance to over a billion of our fellow human beings.

It is therefore sobering to think that while we are planting trees on Sunday, many of the world's trees are threatened, with Australia being one of the world's culprits.

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature has identified the Eastern states of Australia as one of the planet's major deforestation fronts, along with the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin, Borneo and a number of developing South East Asian and South American countries.

In Australia tree clearing has increased since the passing of legislation in New South Wales and Queensland since 2017, which relaxed land clearing laws, making it easier for farmers to remove trees to make way for grazing and agriculture.

The impact of this increased tree clearing is that Australia now has one of the highest rates of extinctions and threatened animal and plant species in the world.

It also means that for every tree we plant on Sunday, somewhere in New South Wales or Queensland, someone is probably cutting one down.

Clearly this is unacceptable and the legislation permitting such a state of affairs needs to be reviewed.