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The Blue Mountains and Lithgow Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health was recently awarded $1.135 million dollars in grant funding for a range of projects that will help make our communities more resilient to natural disasters. The program, being administered by Blue Mountains City Council with partners, will reduce disaster risk and pioneer systemic change through:

• Testing feasibility of a range of sustainable community water management initiatives that reduce disaster risk.
• Establishing neighbourhood communication platforms to grow collaboration, link agencies and communities and share solutions that reduce disaster risk. Get more information on Local News websites  
• Co-designing place-based research and learning to increase the adaptive capacity of communities in facing future disaster risks.
   

Our goal is to inspire the next generation – by connecting them to our special Blue Mountains environment and fostering their natural love of nature. In a learning experience unique to our City within a World Heritage Area, we offer young people the opportunity to explore their local water catchment, learn why it’s special and take action to protect it. Studies show that kids who connect regularly with nature are healthier and happier. They also become more environmentally responsible adults.

Get more information on our Connecting Kids, Creeks and Catchments schools program 

The Towards Zero Waste 2022-2031 Strategy is part of a long journey by Council, and the wider community, to tackle the issue of waste and its impact on planetary health. As the population of the world increases, it is also becoming more urgent to reassess how we use limited resources in a finite world. Landfills are a finite resource, and for Council, the highest source of greenhouse gas emissions - which means they must be carefully and proactively managed. 

Read Towards Zero Waste 2022-2031 

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – released in March 2023 – warns us the climate time bomb is ticking. We know this is the critical decade to reduce emissions which is why Council has adopted the target of net zero emissions from operations by the end of 2025 and has joined the Cities Race to Zero. As part of the Cities Race to Zero, Council has pledged to expand its focus into community emissions reduction starting with the development of a Community Net Zero Plan.
Get more information 
 

The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is so unique because the area is home to:

• 100 eucalypt taxa (13% of the global total)
• 80 plant communities – including sclerophyll (eucalypt), rainforest, heath and swamp/wetland
• 8% of plants are endemic (ie are found only in the Blue Mountains) 
• 265 native birds (one third of Australia’s total)
• 52 mammals
• 62 reptiles
• 30 amphibians
• Approximately 4000 moths.

Council is involved in a number of initiatives to protect our native rare and threatened species.
Get more information
 

As a City within a World Heritage Area, we seek to be a leader in sustainable water management. To work towards this goal, Council developed a Water Sensitive Blue Mountains Strategic Plan in collaboration with the community, WaterNSW, the SPLASH Network and the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities. The Plan delivers an integrated water management approach, based on the water sensitive principles of water efficiency, water harvesting and reuse, best practice stormwater management and an engaged, water-literate community. 

Read the Blue Mountains Water Sensitive Blue Mountains Strategic Plan