Council has endorsed the planting of 15,000 trees at John Oxley Reserve in Kirkham to be delivered through a partnership with Greening Australia.

The environmental not-for-profit organisation approached Council to partner under their Nature in Cities program, which focusses on:

• Engaging people to create cooler, healthier urban habitats and communities;
• Mitigating urban heat through biodiverse enhancement of open space;
• Maintaining and rewilding urban rivers and wetlands; and
• Restoring biodiversity and wildlife habitat in urban areas.

Mayor of Camden, Cr Therese Fedeli, said the partnership would have great benefits for the Camden community.

“Council has been focused on increasing the local tree canopy and providing important habitat as part of its Sustainability Strategy 2020-24 and this is yet another step in the right direction,” Cr Fedeli said.

“As part of the partnership, Greening Australia will install the 15,000 trees and also maintain them for two years.

“Council will be removing the woody weeds, including African Olive, that are currently onsite to allow them to be replaced with local native plants that will provide a range of benefits to the local community, and the environment.

“I’d like to thank Greening Australia for the opportunity to work together, and I look forward to the trees being installed.”

Greening Australia’s operations lead with its Nature in Cities program, Chris Macris, said the organisation was pleased to be partnering with Camden Council.

“This type of partnership represents a new way for us to work together with councils and we look forward to expanding the opportunity to include other programs and locations," Mr Macris said.

The project is set to commence in late September this year with maintenance to continue through to December 2023.

The partnership announcement builds on recent funding to install more than 1,700 park and street trees as part of the NSW Government’s Greening Our City grant program.