By Christine Rau

“Together we’ll have to discover new ways to reinhabit the territories we destroyed while doing commerce.

“Avant-garde communities built on solidarity, not hate – that funny neighbour with a greenhouse; the one who still knows how to fix a machine, who generates electricity with a bicycle.

“These tiny projects – marginal, a bit silly maybe – will be the model of tomorrow.”

Canadian philosophy professor Alain Deneault, Ideas, CBC, August 2026.

Marginal, tiny, silly? That is not how volunteers with Blacktown City Council’s Bushcare program view their monthly efforts to regenerate habitat across the sprawling local government area.

For nearly 30 years, local nature enthusiasts working across 16 sites from Doonside to Seven Hills have helped council botanists restore about 148,000 square metres of bushland and parkland.

They have pulled out mountains of weeds, spread mulch, planted thousands of seedlings and saplings, discovered unfamiliar insects, installed benches and watched bird species come and go – and did we mention the weeds?

In a week when UN monitoring predicted a dangerous overshoot of global warming targets and UNSW scientists warned of Australian “flash droughts” during a supersized El Niño, local Bushcare volunteers offered more down-to-earth reasons for joining.

At Banks Reserve in Kings Langley, a lively group of more than a dozen gathered in the warm spring sunshine last month to catch up, enjoy the birds, collect deadwood, plant native groundcover and renew friendships. And, of course, there was weeding.

Their reasons for joining included spending time in nature, getting some exercise, encountering wildlife, watching plants grow, “enjoying our chats”, building a sense of community and “keeping the place looking good”.

Ranging in age from nine to 80 and holding different political views, the group embodies the adage “think global, act local”.

Ailsa and Alan McLeod are Bushcare veterans in their 70s. They joined in 1998, when “there was nothing there” along what is now parkland and bushland beside Lalor Creek. The creek flows into Toongabbie Creek and forms part of the Parramatta River catchment.

Native trees were “drowning in weeds” such as the parasitic morning glory, which still affects parts of the creek’s steep banks. Their two sons also helped during their high school years, adding valuable volunteer experience to their résumés.

“We enjoy it – just the chatting and community feeling. We’ve definitely benefited from it,” Ailsa said. “It’s great to look out and see all the birds.”

Local birdlife includes cockatoos, magpies, galahs, lorikeets, ibis, ducks, crimson and eastern rosellas, king parrots, tawny frogmouths and owls. Smaller birds, including willy wagtails and fairy-wrens, have been driven away by noisy miners.

The Pennell family has joined in for the past two years. Mum Patricia found the program online when the family was “looking at stuff to give back to the community”.

“We’re a bit of a crew of mass destruction,” dad Craig joked of twins Max and Oliver and youngest son Josh, 9.

They proudly pointed to a section of the creek that was “really viney and gross”, Max said. In winter, the family filled 14 large council garbage bags with weeds and burrs.

“What makes me happy is seeing the before and after.”

A drawcard for children and adults alike is discovering new bugs, beetles and spiders. Long-necked turtles also live in the creek, while frogs, lizards and possums have increased in number at this and other Bushcare sites.

Retiree Bill Cawthorne, 65, confessed to having “half a green thumb”.

He noticed a Bushcare sign soon after moving to Kings Langley in 2015. “I thought this might be a good way of meeting people, and I’ve definitely formed friendships out of it.”

Jessica and Richard Morris, both 40, also noticed a sign and joined five years ago. They were drawn by their passion for sustainability, as well as the “lovely bunch of people – and community gossip”, Richard joked.

For Kristina Corvalan-Sotomayor, 49, Bushcare offered a way to meet locals after she and her family moved from Chile eight years ago.

An infectious diseases specialist at Westmead, Kristina said her extended family had always valued volunteering with organisations including homeless shelters and animal rescue groups.

“We had to tell the kids it’s important to contribute to what is around us, to see beyond your own nose.”

Blacktown City Council recently selected Kristina’s HSC-studying daughter, Laura, as a youth ambassador, she said with pride.

“Can you imagine how different things could be if we were all contributing just one Sunday a month?

“It would be much easier, much less heavy.

“Don’t take life just as it is – be part of it.”

Bushcare groups meet on the first Sunday of each month. Application forms are available on Blacktown City Council’s Bushcare webpage.

Mayor Brad Bunting said it was “one of those programs where you can actually see the difference people make on the ground