Source: Sutherland Shire Council website/Camellia Gardens
Care for Country
We are in hot water. Quite literally.
Our climate is heating. Tree canopy is thinning. Wildlife corridors are shrinking. These are not distant problems — they are signs that our relationship with the natural world needs repair.
For too long, we have prioritised what we build over what sustains us. Yet the built environment must exist within ecological limits, not outside them.
First Nations cultures have always understood this.
To First Nations people, Country is not a place — it is a relationship. And relationships require care.
When we look around our urban areas, we can see what happens when that relationship weakens. Koalas struggling to move between fragmented habitat.
Source: Sutherland Shire Environmental Centre – Engadine, July 2020: Brian Everingham
Mature trees removed without recognising the shelter, cooling and life they provide. Waterways treated as drains rather than living corridors.
Koalas cannot survive in isolation. They need connected canopy and safe passage. Their survival depends on how well we protect the spaces between developments — the trees, creeks and corridors that quietly sustain life.
It reminds us of the simple truth at the heart of the movie – The Lorax: trees are not just timber. They are life support systems.
But this is not about blame. It is about choice.
We can choose to retain mature trees, restore waterways and regenerate our urban environment.
We can choose to design communities where biodiversity is not squeezed out, but welcomed.
How we care for the most vulnerable — whether people or wildlife — reflects our humanity.
Caring for Country is not symbolic. It is practical everyday decisions about balance, respect and responsibility.
Sonja Scherer
