If you have a garden, courtyard or suitable balcony, join the Waverly Council Living Connections program to grow your green spaces and help wildlife thrive. Participants receive free native seedlings and resources to help you on your greening journey.

Join Living Connections to create a cool green garden that both you and local wildlife can enjoy. Help us establish 1000 habitat gardens by 2030 to reach the target set in our new Environmental Action Plan.

What you need to know

Living Connections is a free Council program to help you make the most of your outdoor space.
Open to all residents in the Waverley Local Government Area (LGA) with a garden, courtyard or suitable balcony.

Participants receive:

  • Free native seedlings
  • Resources on habitat gardening
  • Living Connections fence sign to help spread the word; and
  • If you live in a habitat corridor area and have a garden, you may receive additional support such as a garden visit from a horticulturist and additional seedlings.

Participants will be asked to:

  • Keep an eye out for wildlife in your garden, particularly Superb fairy-wrens, New Holland honeyeaters, Blue tongue lizards and micro bats
  • Collect your new seedlings from one of our plant collections days
  • Care for your new plants using instructions provided in the Habitat Gardening Guide; and
  • Keep your cats inside or in a pen or run to protect native wildlife.

Next plant pick up day: Tuesday 27 September 10am-4pm Council Chambers, Bondi Rd

How to join

  1. Read the Habitat Gardening Guide
  2. Apply now

Do you live in a habitat corridor?

Habitat corridor mapping in Waverley’s LGA shows our habitat corridors are extremely fragmented. This makes it hard for wildlife to move between different habitats to feed and reproduce, and presents barriers for plant pollination, germination and dispersal. Our small birds like the Superb fairy-wren and the New Holland honeyeater are confined to the coastal reserves. Private gardens play an important role in reconnecting habit and creating a healthy thriving neighbourhood.

Check if you live in a habitat corridor here. Click ‘Biodiversity Habitat Corridor’ on the right-hand menu.

About Living Connections

Since 2019, Council’s Living Connections program, with original assistance from the NSW Environmental TrustThis external link will open in a new window, has worked together  with 160 private gardens, three schools, Council reserves and community gardens. This program has successfully supported links across the Bronte and Tamarama habitat corridors through the creation of small bird habitat and biodiversity friendly gardens.

Previous program participants have reported increased knowledge about identifying small birds and their habitat, as well as an increase in insects and small animals visiting their gardens. Over time, as the new plants mature, we hope to track an increase in key local species such as the Superb Fairy Wrens and New Holland Honeyeaters.

Read more about some of the Living Connection Participants and their gardens.

Tips for a healthy habitat garden

Want to learn more?

If you’re interested in learning more about small birds and creating habitat to help them thrive, read these Second Nature articles:

 

by jay