Home - Sutherland Shire Environment Centre

First National Park

The Royal National Park is not only a beautiful natural area. It is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna; it has outstanding geological features and spectacular scenery. Sutherland Shire Environment Centre is campaigning to have ecological values and unique history of the Royal recognised through UNESCO World Heritage Listing.

Our Amazing Sutherland Shire Shorebirds

Will they make it?

SO Shire & Plastic Free Sutherland Shire

SO Shire – working to protect our natural environment, including the beautiful waterways that surround our Shire.

The overall aim is to protect and enhance the natural environment by educating the public, mobilising volunteers, advising and promoting environmentally sustainable businesses within the Sutherland Shire.

Coal mining underneath Woronora Reservoir - our drinking water

10,700 people signed our hard copy petition asking the NSW government to stop this mining

Sunny Shire

Sunny Shire provide information about solar energy, batteries, efficiency, electric vehicles and more.

The Sutherland to Cronulla Active Transport link

Help us stop the SCATL backpeddle!

2021 Sustainability Award

Supporting and encouraging businesses that care for our environment – the Sutherland Shire Local Business Awards.

Our Campaigns

Events

National Parks Association Southern Sydney AGM 2021

The guest speaker for this year’s National Parks Association Southern Sydney AGM on 29 September is Harry Burkitt, General Manager of the Colong Foundation for Wilderness. Harry was awarded “Young Environmentalist of the Year” in 2018 by the Bob Brown Foundation, and he leads the Give A Dam campaign against the Warragamba Dam wall raising. In this free zoom presentation Harry will speak about the need to protect the ecological integrity of the Blue Mountains World Heritage area, and current threats it is facing: from coal mining, to issues relating to fire, and what will be lost if the dam is raised.

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre AGM 2021

Our guest speaker this year is Dean Kelly, proud Aboriginal man and a passionate voice for nature. He’s a Cultural Leader of the La Perouse community and works across Sydney with the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage and NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service as an Indigenous Community Liaison Officer. Dean believes nature is the greatest teacher and that there are many things we can learn from our environment. We’re honoured to have Dean speaking at this year’s AGM, and you are welcome to join us via zoom on 9 September.

Late Sutherland based environmental activist, Bill Ryan, protests for climate action with young boy

Bill Ryan Activism Award

In honour of Bill Ryan who passed away in December 2019, Sutherland Shire Environment Centre has created an Activism Award in order to recognise peaceful environmental activism. Bill Ryan’s civility, spirit, and determination have been an inspiration to so many. His long history of engaging in non-violent, direct action was centred in his conviction that civil disobedience and the freedom to protest should be an essential feature of democratic society.

This award has been established in Bill Ryan’s name as a tribute to a much loved and remarkable man and to honour those who share his spirit of non-violent direct action for the benefit of the environment.

About Sutherland Shire Environment Centre

We are an independent, not-for-profit, community organisation actively involved in a wide range of projects aimed at maintaining the natural beauty and character of our Shire, and surrounding waterways and parks. We promote sustainability, support environmental education, and welcome community involvement to help us address environmental issues that affect the Shire and its bioregions.

A current focus is advocating for koala and wildlife corridors around the Shire. Another campaign seeks to protect our water supply at Woronora: our recent petition called for the mining underneath our reservoir to be stopped. Through the SO Shire group we act to halt the increasing amount of pollution from plastic and microplastics that is washing up around our beaches and waterways.

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre supports a number of other fantastic environmental initiatives, in addition to these campaigns. If you are interested in living more sustainably at home, or at work, we may be able to help. Our Sunny Shire, SO Shire, and Plastic Free Sutherland Shire groups liaise with a number of local organisations, schools and businesses, and can offer advice about solar energy, batteries, and sustainable practices.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this Land, the Dharawal and Gandangara peoples, who have cared and continue to care for country.
We recognise that Aboriginal Sovereignty has never been ceded. It is our goal to build restorative relations between peoples, and we pay our respect to their elders past, present, and emerging.