Blacktown City Councillor Brad Bunting joined Emerton community planting day celebrating the Creating Canopies project planting 50,000 trees across some of Sydney ’ s barest suburbs .

The celebration , held at Holy Family Catholic Parish in Emerton last month hosted 40 volunteers who planted 1,880 trees and shrubs on the grounds .

This event was run by Creating Canopies , a project delivered by Landcare NSW and Greater Sydney Landcare , funded by the NSW Government which will see 200,000 trees planted across Sydney by the end of 2025 .

Brad Bunting attended on the day to help plant the 50,000th tree of the Creating Canopies project , and to speak about the importance of trees to combat urban heat .

Miss Earth Australia 2023 Helen Latukefu volunteered her time to plant trees at this event as did a Dawoodi Bohra community group from Auburn , amongst other volunteers .

Blacktown City Mayor Tony Bleasdale OAM says planting more trees is a vital task in greening Western Sydney and helps minimise the impact of urban heat on the people of the region .

“ We know that more trees mean a healthier , more liveable and cooler City for all residents . More trees increase our city ’ s resilience as we adapt to a changing climate . The trees reduce the significant impact of urban heat on our residents . Trees improve the quality of our urban ecosystems , encourage wildlife habitat , produce better air and shade our parks ,

paths and playgrounds ,” Mayor Bleasdale said .

Department of Planning and Environment ’ s Executive Director of Resilience and Urban Sustainability , Steve Hartley , said the NSW Government is continuing to work towards its target of increasing the overall tree canopy across Greater Sydney to 40 per cent by 2036 .

“ To date , the NSW Government has provided over $ 36 million to councils and other partners across Greater Sydney , supporting the planting of more than 400,000 trees ,” Mr Hartley said .

“ This investment directly helps to mitigate urban heat island impacts by providing more trees , shade , cleaner air , and more beautiful places to live .”

Ms Danielle Packer , Project Manager

of Creating Canopies for Greater Sydney Landcare said , “ We ’ re thrilled that Sydneysiders have been coming out in droves to be a part of this tree planting initiative .”

“ We ’ ve had over 1,000 volunteers planting trees with us at almost 60 events in 12 different Local Government Areas of Sydney this year ,” said Ms Packer .

“ In the Blacktown Local Government Area alone we ’ ve run eight tree planting events at five different parks and reserves , and also funded trees for the Council ’ s National Tree Day plantings . Almost 600 volunteers gave their time to plant over 12,000 trees in the Blacktown LGA this year . This will help tackle urban heat and create healthier and greener suburbs for the community .”