We are more powerful together! Every week we are contacted by communities in shock over a plan to sell-off a much loved park, and urban tree canopies that are being cut down. So we decided to create a campaign that would knit communities all over Sydney and NSW into one network. The key is our SOS Green Spaces map to which you can add your patch of endangered green space or bushland, giving us an extraordinary overview of the assaults on Sydney's green canopy and irreplaceable native flora and fauna. The map also connects you to other groups fighting similar battles.
Australia’s cities are world famous for their stunning natural beauty. Our outdoor life style is envied world wide. And our parks and trees are a valuable inheritance. But as the cities grow, developers are bulldozing the bush for housing and infrastructure, chainsawing city trees and grabbing green spaces - making the city less healthy and liveable. The SOS Green Spaces campaign provides you will the tools and the support to reach out to each other, to make your mark on our SOS map, and to stand up to the chaotic development juggernaut that prioritises roads over people. The current government doesn't seem to understand the importance of healthy ecosystems in our communities, but we are letting them know that you do.
Change is happening!
TEC's community fight-back campaign is challenging the short term development trends threatening our cities.
To build a powerful network across the metropolitan region, we created the SOS Green Spaces Map, which was featured in the Sydney Morning Herald.
It tracks threatened spaces in over 70 locations across Sydney with detailed information about local trees, native species, and resident action groups. Is your park or patch of bushland on it yet? Let us know.
The "war on trees" is continuing unabated under Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Help us keep building and updating the SOS Green Spaces Map here. It will ensure your community can connect to others by sharing a clear overview of the destruction taking place. Together we can build this network to protect remaining bushland, preserve and expand parks for family picnics and active sports, and create more shade for our streets to alleviate dangerous urban heat island impacts on our health and climate.
Our community empowerment program began two years ago with suburban information sessions. Our SOS Green Spaces Forum series has attracted over 100 representatives of local groups, and featured presentations by James Grant (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects), Jess Miller of 202020 Vision, and Emily Ryan of the NSW Environmental Defender's Office. These are full of useful stats and research you may want to share.
After the amazing work done by Corinne Fisher over the past 18 months, we now have Saul Deane stepping into the role of Urban Sustainability campaigner. Stay tuned and stay active!
What You Can Do:
- Sign our Open Letter to the NSW Premier
- Check out the SOS Green Spaces map
- Donate to our SOS Green Spaces Map, informing and uniting communities across Sydney
- Download our SOS Green Spaces Toolkit to learn how to protect your green space
- Download our SOS Green Spaces List of Resources to equip you with helpful facts about green spaces
- Download our Urban Sanctuary Report
- Contact your local MP and let them know you want your green spaces preserved and respected
