Skip to content Skip to footer
Contact Us

Care for the environment

A city where we care for the environment and live sustainably

Direction 1

Direction 1

Greater Sydney has incredible natural beauty and ecologically significant environments. We rely on our healthy natural environments for clean water
and air, and our green (parks and reserves) and blue (creeks, waterways and beaches) places to sustain the wellbeing of the people who live here. Healthy natural environments can better withstand and mitigate the impact of shock events such as heatwaves and flooding. However, human activities over our city’s history have degraded the land and waters of Sydney.

Urbanisation continues to encroach on our bushland. The environment of Greater Sydney is also under pressure from climate change. Since the pre-industrial period, NSW has warmed by 1.4 to 1.6°C which is 1.4 times faster than the global average16. The risk assessment identified escalating threats to Greater Sydney’s natural places and ecosystems. Current environmental and biodiversity policies and legislation in NSW are not strong enough to protect the natural environment.

Managing resources
to increase resilience

Waste management

Local government within Greater Sydney have begun to implement food organics and garden organics waste management to reduce the volume of waste to landfill

Food production

In the Sydney basin, continued urbanisation is predicted to reduce food production by 60% between 2011 and 2031.

Water

Greater Sydney relies heavily on a single surface water reservoir for 85% of its drinking water supply.

Energy

Our energy system is undergoing a transformation. However the benefits are not equally shared. Greater Sydney needs a resilient grid with electrification benefiting all.

Since the pre-industrial period,
NSW has warmed by 1.4–1.6°C, 1.4 times faster than the global average.

  • Action 1
  • Action 2
  • Action 3
  • Action 4
  • Action 5

Embed First Nations knowledge and practices in land management

Bushfires

Coastal hazards

Mental health

Social cohesion

Racism & vilification

Environmental degradation

Resilience challenge

Current land management systems do not support caring for Country. Administrative and regulatory barriers restrict access and cultural practices on most land in Greater Sydney. Thousands of years of knowledge held by Traditional Custodians should be better valued and applied in caring for Sydney’s increasingly vulnerable ecosystems.

Resilience goals

The connections to Country of First Nations people are nurtured through access to Country, sharing the stories of Country and caring for Country.
Knowledge and practices to care for Country are protected, restored and shared creating economic opportunities and ensuring future generations can practice culture.
Country is better cared for and healed, improving the resilience of Sydney’s natural ecosystems. 
Aboriginal-led governance in genuine partnership with land managers and local communities builds a shared responsibility for the wellbeing of Country.

Action pathways

1. Advocate for funding and management agreements that enable First Nations-led stewardship of land in Greater Sydney. 
2. Advocate for research to quantify the social, economic and environmental benefits of First Nations land management to inform policy and practice in Greater Sydney. 

3. Collaborate with Traditional Custodians and First Nations organisations including Aboriginal land councils to understand and reduce the barriers to caring for Country created by current administrative and regulatory processes. 

4. councils and other land managers to experience and engage in First Nations land management practices. 

5. the original Aboriginal language names through dual-naming of geographical features in Greater Sydney. 

6. the original Aboriginal language names through dual-naming of geographical features in Greater Sydney. 

7. the original Aboriginal language names through dual-naming of geographical features in Greater Sydney. 

8. the original Aboriginal language names through dual-naming of geographical features in Greater Sydney. 

CASE STUDY

Event title 1

Nam volutpat dapibus nisi sed ultrices. Proin ullamcorper eget ex a cursus.

Connect and protect green and blue places

Heatwaves

Flooding

Mental health

Water

Chronic health conditions

Environmental degradation

Resilience challenge

The environment in Greater Sydney is under more pressure as urban areas, infrastructure and climate change impacts increase. People rely on the natural environment for their wellbeing. However, there is inequitable distribution of, and access to, parks and reserves (green places) and creeks, waterways and beaches (blue places) across Greater Sydney

Resilience goals

Connected high-quality green and blue places support the wellbeing of people through more opportunity for recreation, active transport and spending time in nature.
Interconnected green and blue networks support greater biodiversity, protect ecological integrity and increase natural habitats and riparian corridors across Greater Sydney.
There is collaboration across governments to design, implement, and maintain nature-based measures to improve resilience of ecosystems and environments in Greater Sydney.
Greater Sydney has a region-wide plan to map, protect and enhance a sustainable network of green and blue places.

Action pathways

1. Advocate for state government to include minimum standards for green and blue infrastructure (for example, parks, gardens, street trees, green walls and roofs, ponds, swales and rain gardens) in strategic planning and assessments of developments.
2. Promote collaboration between councils, state government and river and coastal alliance groups to systematically record, track and sustainably manage green and blue infrastructure. This includes identifying more land and waterways that can be acquired or rehabilitated to strengthen green and blue networks.
3. Identify opportunities for councils, Aboriginal land councils, state government and private land managers to partner with each other on green and blue infrastructure projects.
4. Build on the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure framework for valuing green infrastructure and public spaces25 to better measure the value of natural assets to local economies and to physical, mental, social and cultural wellbeing
5. Collaborate with councils, river and coastal alliance groups and other landowners and managers in Greater Sydney to develop a community of practice for information sharing and problem-solving on initiatives that cross administrative boundaries.
6. Support investment in restoring and naturalising waterways and stormwater channels. Prioritise locations that provide new connections and expand riparian corridors.
7. Promote partnerships between state and local governments, Sydney Water and river and coastal alliance groups to provide more opportunities for people to access, care for and enjoy rivers and other bodies of water. This would include developing new swim sites.
8. Support councils to collaborate with state government to improve green and blue places through the metropolitan greenspace program26, and to develop a Greater Sydney plan that protects and maintains a sustainable green and blue network.

CASE STUDY

News title 2

Nam volutpat dapibus nisi sed ultrices. Proin ullamcorper eget ex a cursus. In sed turpis at orci laoreet ultrices et vitae urna.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Read More

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Read More

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Read More