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NSW Ports and CVA Partnership Celebrates a Year of Significant Impact for Nature

Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) and NSW Ports have been working together for over 7 years to restore habitat and biodiversity

Our partnership has had many successes, and we are proud to report on the significant impact on nature achieved in the 2024-2025 financial year.

CVA Program Manager, David Jones, is excited about these impressive achievements: “It’s amazing what sustained support from partners like NSW Ports and Bayside Council, together with the hard work of volunteers, can achieve for nature. Standing in the revegetated areas now, it’s almost impossible to imagine that they were once weed-infested and lifeless. The transformation has been nothing short of magical.”

These are some of the most significant outcomes of our collaborative projects in 2024-2025:

• 219 volunteers participated in 9 restoration and conservation events
• We built 55 Ringtail possum dreys, providing much-needed homes for these little marsupials
• Together with our partners and volunteers, we planted 2000 native seedlings, which will help to restore endangered scrubland
• An impressive 2.2 hectares of weeds have been removed, making way for more native species of plants to thrive
• We collected 30 kilograms of litter along Port Botany

We are indebted to the thousands of volunteers who have helped us achieve these impressive milestones for conservation, NSW Ports for their continued partnership, as well as generous support from Bayside Council.

Get Involved in Conservation Activities at Sir Joseph Banks Park and Port Botany Beaches and Rivers in 2026

There are many ways to get involved in hands-on conservation activities. By volunteering with CVA you can join our volunteering events across the country – helping to save wildlife and build biodiversity.

Through our partnership with NSW Ports and with the support of Bayside Council, we have been restoring the endangered Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub at Sir Joseph Banks Park.

Weeds are a key challenge in this area – species such as Lantana, Turkey Rhubarb, Green Cestrum, Bridal Creeper are a particular problem and species targeted by our volunteer-led weeding and restoration efforts. Other species like native Swamp She-oaks and Lemon-scented Gums, many of which have been planted without authorisation by well-meaning locals, also require ongoing management.

Our revegetation planting events have been very well supported by volunteers, where we focused this year on planting fast-growing groundcover plant species like Blady Grass and Lomandra – which are also great at suppressing weeds.

Volunteers involved in weeding, planting, and collection of litter have the opportunity to meet like-minded conservationists while doing something positive for their local community. Volunteers also get to experience some of our local NSW wildlife while taking part in volunteer events. This year our volunteers saw golden orb spiders, lady beetles, praying mantises, a variety of woodland birds, the striped marsh frog and dwarf tree frog.

Take action for nature.

🌿🌼 Sign up to volunteer at one of our conservation events in 2026 and help us in creating an urban oasis at Sir Joseph Banks Park. 🌿 🌼 

Taking Action for Nature Across Australia

CVA has been taking action for nature since 1982. We empower people across the country to get involved in conservation through volunteering and taking action to create meaningful change. Together with our partners and dedicated volunteers, we’re creating more resilient and sustainable communities that are nature positive.

In addition to the volunteering events in New South Wales, we also organise a myriad of other volunteer events in other states. Search our volunteering page to find and sign up for a conservation event near you.