On Saturday 12th July 2025, Greater Sydney Landcare hosted a much-anticipated Creating Canopies planting day at Waterworth Park, Earlwood. Originally scheduled for May but postponed due to wet weather, the event was run in partnership with the City of Canterbury Bankstown and welcomed more than 100 volunteers on a crisp, sunny winter morning.
Together, the group planted an impressive 1,975 native seedlings—1,490 trees and shrubs provided by Creating Canopies, and 485 grasses supplied by the City of Canterbury Bankstown.
Fast Work and Helping Hands
With so many enthusiastic hands on deck, the planting moved swiftly. Volunteers didn’t just plant—they also assembled and staked guards for the boundaries to protect young plants from mowers and foot traffic, and helped water everything in with watering cans.
The Lions Clubs came out in full force, supporting the event on multiple fronts. They not only manned the barbeques and cooked a delicious sausage sizzle lunch, but had also organised the participation of 36 volunteers from the Sydney Chinese School, adding even more energy and community spirit to the day.
In total, 23 Lions took part from the following clubs:
- The Hills Shire
- Sydney Harmony
- North West
- Sydney Waratah
- Sydney Alliance
- Sydney Sunny
Stephen Liu, Zone 2 Chairperson, summed it up simply: “Thank you for organising such a wonderful event. We all had a great time on the day.”
Thank you to all the incredible Lions and friends who took part! Their kindness, generosity and community spirit were greatly appreciated.
Creating Canopies, Growing Connections
The event was led by Greater Sydney Landcare’s Creating Canopies team: Project Manager Danielle Packer, Natural Resources Manager Bryce Doyle, Project Officer Alicia Harb-Akins, Revegetation Officer Ryan Birtles, Environmental Field Officer Kylie Burrows, and Communications Manager Melanie Wagner.
They were supported on the day by staff from the City of Canterbury Bankstown, including Lauchlan Prentice, Robyn Young, Grace, and several other team members who helped make the day run smoothly.
Becoming Habitat Heroes
One of the highlights for many attendees was the visit from ecologist Tom Covell of ‘Hooked on Nature’—and the most recent season of Alone Australia. Tom ran three engaging sessions on urban ecology and showing off native animal companions like Hagrid the hairy huntsman and Pearl, a 30-year-old Green Tree Frog.
Participants could also join a “Bug Safari” with nets and specimen containers, discovering just how much life was hiding in the long grass and leaves around them. Tom also shared practical ways to support biodiversity at home through small changes (like avoidance of insecticide) and impactful ways to create habitat for native species.
Nature Watching While Planting
As volunteers worked, the surrounding park buzzed with life. Bird sightings included a flock of galahs, a curious kookaburra, magpie-larks, and plump, inquisitive willie wagtails. The scene was alive with birdsong and movement—a gentle reminder of the role habitat plays in sustaining urban wildlife.
By 1 pm, the planting was complete, thanks to the energy and teamwork of all involved.
Greening Our Cities, Cooling Our Future
This planting is part of Creating Canopies, a project which aims to increase urban canopy cover across areas lacking it in Greater Sydney. Tree cover helps reduce urban heat, create wildlife habitat, and improve community wellbeing. Programs like this align with the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s Cooler Places work, which highlights how trees and green spaces are vital to building heat-resilient cities.
Greater Sydney Landcare staff will return to Waterworth Park to plant the remaining 1,360 native trees and shrubs, plus another 485 grasses. Once complete, this will bring the total for 2025 to:
- 2,850 native trees and shrubs to create canopy and midstorey
- 970 grasses to create an understorey
- Total: 3,820 plants improving habitat and cooling Waterworth Park and the local area
What Volunteers Had to Say
Feedback from the day was overwhelmingly positive. Here’s what some volunteers shared:
“Amazing. I had such a great time and felt so connected to nature and my community.”
“Such a great event. I felt privileged to bring my sons along and make our next generation aware of nature, our habitat and life moving forward.”
“It was well organised and very interesting—there was never a boring moment.”
“Phenomenal. Really great. Inspiring, organised, efficient, thoughtful. Great talk and generous coffee and food.”
“Excellent. Can’t believe I’ve only just found out about this project—I look forward to more events.”
“I had a great time. Absolutely will volunteer again.”
Highlights from the Day
When asked what they enjoyed most, volunteers responded:
- “The planting, and the instructions. Plus, the ecology talk with Tom was fantastic.”
- “Variety of activities—planting was my favourite. The free coffee and sausage sizzle was such an appreciated extra.”
- “Talking with Landcare staff and other volunteers.”
- “The planting area was well chosen—widening existing planted corridors will really help biodiversity.”
Thank You to All Involved
A big thank you to all the volunteers who joined us at Waterworth Park—your energy and effort made the day a great success.
We’re also grateful to the City of Canterbury Bankstown for volunteering this site for increased canopy cover, supplying native grasses, supporting site preparations and the day on-site, and providing the coffee cart that kept everyone warm and happy with free, excellent hot drinks.
Volunteer for Bushcare in Canterbury-Bankstown
If you’d like to contribute to environmental efforts in the Canterbury-Bankstown LGA, you can become a Bushcare volunteer and regenerate bushland. No experience is necessary as training is provided.
Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare
Find out more about Corporate Volunteering with Greater Sydney Landcare here. Be sure to download our Corporate Volunteering Info Pack.
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.
About Creating Canopies
Landcare NSW and Greater Sydney Landcare are planting 300,000 trees from 2020-2025 as part of the Greening our City program to help reduce urban heat in Greater Sydney. Proudly funded by the NSW Government.
