OUR
In an impressive example of innovative sustainability, Penrith City Council and the Sydney Zoo in Western Sydney have teamed up to collect both native plants and weed species to provide extra snacks for the zoo’s animals. Since April 2020, Council’s Bushland Management Team has been donating suitable native and target weed species to Sydney Zoo. Penrith Mayor and Sustainability Champion, Councillor Karen McKeown OAM, praised the project’s collaborative weed removal approach.
“The zoo’s dedicated team has been collecting plant material from Penrith two to three times a week with the assistance of our Bushland Management staff and contractors.
“Removing weeds is crucial in maintaining agricultural land and natural bushland areas and increasing the health of the sensitive vegetation communities within Penrith,” Cr McKeown said.
PRIORITY WEEDS
Under the Biosecurity Act 2015, a “priority weed” is a plant that has been assessed to cause severe economic loss to agriculture and significantly impact the natural and recreational environments. Removing priority weeds is an important step in increasing the health of the sensitive vegetation communities within our LGA. The weeds identified by Council for donation to the zoo are based on supporting the natural environment of the Penrith local area.
To date, Penrith City Council has provided the zoo with over 30 tonnes of plant material, which has been happily devoured by elephants, giraffes, red pandas, camels, and zebras. The health and safety of these beautiful creatures is a priority, with all plants carefully selected to ensure they are disease and pesticide free. •5•
Credit – Sydney Zoo
TO PROBLEM PLANTS
Council’s Bushland team hard at work collecting plant materials for the zoo
SOLUTION
The weeds provided include African Olive, Bamboo, Chinese Celtis and Willow. These weeds have been identified by the Bushland Management team as weeds that are a part of their weed removal program and are identified by the zoo as desirable food sources. Sydney Zoo are able to make use of the weeds thanks to a permit they attained under the Biosecurity Act.
