Building Bridges to Boorowa

On September 7th, the Building Bridges to Boorowa Project will celebrate its 20th anniversary. North Sydney Council staff and Bushcare volunteers will again travel to Boorowa as they have done every year and add to over 56,000 trees, shrubs and grasses they have already planted in the district.

There have been many seeds of friendship grown along the way, including a marriage and it has helped form many lasting bonds between our two communities. This year, I will be welcoming the Member for North Shore Felicity Wilson as my guest to witness this wonderful collaboration and award winning project. A project that connects our communities and the partnership that has been forged through those that are passionate about the environment, volunteers with a deep commitment and a shared sense of purpose. An award winning project which has led to achievements that link people from the city and the country, all walks of life, all contributing to be part of an environmental solution.

As a result of this project, the Superb Parrot habitat is being restored, which was on the path to extinction because its natural habitat had been decimated. Wildlife corridors have been re- established which, not only protect stock from the elements but also provide a vital refuge for native wildlife, allowing viable populations to be sustained into the future.

2017 saw Boorowa Landcare and Boorowa schools travel to Sydney to complete another first – a planting at the Coal Loader (Centre for Sustainability) in North Sydney twenty years on and this project is evolving and still going strong.

As Building Bridges to Boorowa demonstrates, we can all make a difference at a grassroots level if we work together. Landcare and Bushcare rely on professional staff and infrastructure, such as local coordinators and central support, to enable volunteers to do their important work.

I look forward to the Mayors of both Councils signing a new Memorandum of Understanding at the official dinner on Saturday evening to continue to acknowledge the wonderful work our Bushcare and Landcare volunteers are doing and the commitment by the North Sydney and Hilltops Councils to continue to foster and support the Building Bridges to Boorowa Project.

– Councillor Wendy Tuckerman

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• Local Council