Local communities and groups in the Wollondilly Shire (NSW Southern Highlands) have been helping to plant thousands of seedlings and tackle weeds across hundreds of hectares to improve water quality and output, curb riverbank erosion and regenerate their catchment lands.

The community-led effort is being supported through a partnership between the Great Eastern Ranges (GER) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) to improve the health and resilience of this important part of the Greater Sydney Water Catchment.

Since February, on-ground partner Greater Sydney Landcare (GSL) has been working on the project alongside Wollondilly Shire Council and hundreds of landholders, community members and other volunteers.

“It is heartening to see the community coming together like this to make a difference for their waterways, land and wildlife such as platypus, koalas and glossy black-cockatoos, says Gary Howling, CEO of GER.

“The areas in which we are working, such as Buxton, were some of the hardest hit by the Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and 2020, while others, such as at Picton, have experienced repeated flooding since 2022.”

“By putting biodiverse native vegetation back into the landscape and regenerating bushland along key waterways, we are building the resilience of the catchment and buffering communities and wildlife against the impact of future floods and fires.”

“This also reduces erosion and increases the amount of water the soils can absorb and hold so that more is retained in the catchment,” said Gary.

The project is providing additional benefits to local communities through educational and capacity building workshops and the establishment of new Landcare groups. The first of which, Buxton Landcare, has already been formed and is expanding rapidly.

“The idea of Buxton Landcare emerged during the planning stages of the project and has now come to life. This passionate group of landholders have been running working bees and workshops to increase their knowledge and skills, and build their capacity to assist with bush regeneration,” said Vanessa Gimellaro, Landcare Co-ordinator for the area.

Vanessa says that they are helping Landcare groups to form to sustain and expand on the benefits of the on-ground effort beyond the life of the project.

The project has also attracted significant interest and support from the wider community, including local MP, Judy Hannan, who has been getting her hands dirty planting seedlings alongside other enthusiastic locals.

“When this area floods, we need native ground covers near the creek system. What the native grasses do is they hold it together and they don’t break when they bend in the wind and wet conditions, if the water does come over, whereas all those exotic grasses and shrubs die,” said Judy during a planting day at Stone Quarry Creek.

“These plants should be more resilient in a flood situation and will regenerate and grow back very quickly. The soil and the drainage will be better and we all know the more flood mitigation we can do, the better the regeneration.”

On-ground activities will continue on for a second year.

“We look forward to watching the project continue to unfold and to seeing the many benefits that will stem from it, tomorrow and into the future,” said Gary Howling.