200K Trees Planted Celebration

On Saturday 14^th September 2024, Creating Canopies hosted a planting on the grounds of Campbelltown Hospital. This was no ordinary planting. It was a celebration that the project had planted 200,000 native trees and shrubs all across Greater Sydney since it began in 2020.

Creating Canopies is a partnership project of Greater Sydney Landcare and Landcare NSW, and proudly funded by the NSW Government through the Greening Our City initiative.

Since 2020, Creating Canopies has held over 280 plantings, attended by over 5,000 volunteers, in 20 LGAs of Greater Sydney.

100,000 more native trees and shrubs remain to be planted by the end of 2025. A fantastic turnout of 47 volunteers joined us on the day to plant 1,000 of these at Campbelltown Hospital.

It was great to welcome back many volunteers who had planted with Creating Canopies before, including the Interfaith Network, and also meet some fresh faces—including a 2-month-old baby! Amazing work all.

The Member for Campbelltown, Greg Warren MP, joined the planting and spoke about the importance of this work for the area and for Greater Sydney. Landcare NSW CEO Turlough Guerin also gave a few remarks about this fantastic partnership project, and Creating Canopies Project Manager Danielle Packer from Greater Sydney Landcare let volunteers know about the value of the trees as part of Cumberland Plain Woodland restoration efforts.

Creating Canopies plants native trees and shrubs that will grow to over 3 metres tall. It partners with landowners to plant on public and private lands. The focus is on planting in LGAs of Sydney with less than 30% canopy cover to increase this figure, providing shade and evaporative cooling to help reduce urban heat in our city in the future.

Volunteers on the day installed locally native plants including the following Cumberland Plain Woodland species:

• gum trees – Eucalyptus cebra, E. eugenioides, E. fibrosa
• wattles – Acacia implexa, A. decurrens, A. parramattensis
• White Feather Honeymyrtle – Melaleuca decora
• Sweet Bursaria – Bursaria spinosa
• Australian Indigo – Indigofera australis

Restoring Critically Endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland

Campbelltown Council explains: “Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the gently rolling landscape of western Sydney would have been draped in a unique woodland plant community consisting of a mix of large gum trees, patchy shrubs and grasses, known as Cumberland Plain Woodland.”

“It is estimated that only around 6% of the original 125,000 hectares remain in small fragmented patches scattered across the Cumberland Plain. Unfortunately this woodland is now listed as a Critically Endangered Ecological Community by both New South Wales and Commonwealth Governments and is protected under relevant legislation.”

Celebrating Creating Canopies 200,000th Tree Planted!

The day enjoyed a festive vibe with Spit Roast King providing a delicious barbeque lunch for all, and with raffle prizes awarded to three lucky volunteers. The prizes included:

• Greater Sydney Landcare hat, gardening gloves and hand tools
• A Plant Care Kit and reusable coffee cup, plus a Greater Sydney Landcare tote bag
• A copy of ‘Saving the Flying Fox: A Precious Forest Pollinator’ book by Georgina Kenyon, plus ground cover plants including Hardenbergia violacea and Native Violets (Viola hederacea), and a Greater Sydney Landcare tote bag

Thank you to all who planted with Creating Canopies on the day and during the life of the project. Your contribution has made a valuable difference, making Greater Sydney a cooler, greener place to live.

Volunteer for Bushcare in Campbelltown

If you’d like to contribute to environmental efforts in the Campbelltown LGA, you can become a Bushcare volunteer and regenerate bushland. No experience is necessary as training is provided.

Get Involved in Creating Canopies

If you’d like to find out how to get free trees planted on your land, visit our Register Your Site for Trees page.

Come along and plant trees with Creating Canopies. Find out what events we have coming up on Greater Sydney Landcare’s Eventbrite page.

Find out more about Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare here. Be sure to download our Corporate Volunteering Info Pack.

About Creating Canopies

Landcare NSW and Greater Sydney Landcare are planting 200,000 trees as part of the Greening our City program to help reduce urban heat in Greater Sydney. Proudly funded by the NSW Government.