From One Planting Day to Long-Term Stewardship:How Campbelltown Is Growing Community Action
More than 2,000 seedlings planted in a matter of hours tell only part of the story behind Campbelltown’s National Tree Day. The larger ambition is to connect people with nature, with one another and, ultimately, with the long-term care of their local environment.
At Athelstone Recreational Reserve in South Australia, the transformation came surprisingly quickly.
Over the course of Campbelltown’s National Tree Day event, approximately 115 volunteers planted and guarded 2,200 seedlings, while another 60 seedlings were given to participants to take home. According to the organisers, the volunteer figure is probably an underestimate: some people joined without registering, while passers-by stopped to take part in the free activities.
For those coordinating the day, even the speed of the planting was unexpected. Within a few hours, hundreds of people working collectively had visibly changed the site.
Yet the significance of the event extends beyond the number of seedlings in the ground. For Campbelltown City Council SA and Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), which jointly planned and delivered the event, National Tree Day is part of a broader effort to engage residents in local environmental action, connect them with the national movement and, importantly, connect community members with each other.
The longer-term question is what happens after the planting tools are packed away.
Making environmental action accessible
One striking feature of the Campbelltown event is the breadth of participation.
Members of the Magill Scout Group, Stradbroke Scout Group and Sri Sathya Sai Global Council – Australia took part, alongside families, individual volunteers and people who encountered the activities while passing through the reserve.
Parents and Scout leaders were particularly positive about being able to plant alongside children, according to feedback collected by the organisers. They valued the opportunity not simply to complete a conservation task, but to demonstrate directly why caring for local environments matters. Accessibility appears to be part of that appeal. Participants did not need specialist knowledge or their own equipment. Tools, guidance and lunch were provided, reducing some of the practical barriers that can prevent people from joining environmental activities.
Demand has been strong enough that National Tree Day registrations are deliberately capped so that those attending have a meaningful opportunity to participate. Even with that limit, the event regularly books out well in advance, as do many of the partnership’s other community planting days.
The return of community groups from year to year is particularly significant. Local Scout groups have become regular participants, with National Tree Day developing into an annual opportunity to spend time outdoors, contribute to conservation and give back to the local community.
For organisers seeking to build lasting engagement, repeat participation can matter as much as the scale of a single day.
More than planting trees
The event was intentionally designed around more than revegetation.
Uncle Ivan-Tiwu Copley, a respected Peramangk/Kaurna Elder, delivered a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony and shared knowledge of the area, Kaurna language and the importance of Caring for Country.
Animals Anonymous introduced participants to native wildlife including quokkas, geckos, legless lizards, freshwater crocodiles and a tawny frogmouth. Habitat Connection Co led eco-craft activities, including the decoration of plant guards later installed across the planting site.
The plant-guard activity became an unexpected highlight. Organisers recalled adults who were initially reluctant to participate creatively being encouraged to design their own guards, producing personal and nature-inspired artwork that became part of the restoration site.
The Kiwanis Club of Rostrevor-Campbelltown provided a barbecue lunch, while Council staff distributed environmental information and resources about biodiversity in the Campbelltown area. Photographer Veronica McLachlan also donated her time to document the event.
Together, these activities widened the definition of participation. Environmental engagement became not only a matter of planting, but also of culture, wildlife education, creativity, conversation and community connection.
A planting day within a longer program
National Tree Day is also one point in a much larger partnership.
Campbelltown City Council has committed to two three-year projects with Conservation Volunteers Australia, with the organisations averaging around 20 community activities each calendar year. These range from major planting days and activities with schools and community groups to mulching, weeding and removing plant guards.
Since last year, more than 700 volunteers have planted close to 15,000 seedlings in urban parks, reserves and riparian areas across the Campbelltown local government area, according to figures supplied by CVA.
The partnership includes the Urban Shade Forest project, which is running until 2027 and focuses on increasing tree canopy, reducing urban heat, restoring native habitat and biodiversity, and building climate resilience in residential areas. Council says the project includes planting 7,000 native plants each year and creating connected habitat corridors.
A second project, Rewilding Fifth Creek, runs until 2028. Its objectives include improving downstream water quality, restoring habitat connections, enhancing riparian areas—the vegetation alongside waterways—and increasing community access to nature. Planned works include weed removal, revegetation, habitat restoration and community conservation activities.
The roles of the two organisations are complementary. Campbelltown City Council contributes local expertise, site preparation, staff support, on-ground assistance and longer-term maintenance. CVA leads the development, promotion and co-delivery of community events and brings together activity providers and community organisations.
This model links the immediate energy of volunteering with longer-term environmental management.
From volunteers to stewards
Perhaps the most important objective lies beyond the formal lifespan of the projects.
Council hopes that people introduced to conservation through these activities will develop an interest in joining existing volunteer groups that care for particular sites within Campbelltown’s biodiversity areas.
That progression—from attending an event, to returning, to becoming a regular steward of a place— is difficult to capture through planting totals alone.
It also offers a useful perspective on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Campbelltown activities align particularly with the themes of SDG 13: Climate Action and SDG 15: Life on Land, through community climate awareness, urban greening, habitat restoration and biodiversity conservation. But a local planting event should not be presented as a solution to climate change or biodiversity loss in itself.
Its wider value lies in creating opportunities for people to participate in environmental care and understand how local landscapes connect with larger ecological challenges.
Community engagement and systemic environmental action are not alternatives. The former can help build the knowledge, relationships and sense of responsibility needed to sustain the latter.
Keeping the conversation growing
That community conversation will continue beyond National Tree Day.
Campbelltown City Council’s flagship Naturally Campbelltown event is scheduled for 5 September 2026 in Rostrevor. The free, family-oriented sustainability event will bring together local organisations, speakers, interactive activities, wildlife experiences, sustainable transport displays and a native plant giveaway, extending environmental engagement into areas including waste, energy, biodiversity, food and everyday living.
In that sense, the story unfolding in Campbelltown is larger than a successful planting day.
The 2,200 seedlings at Athelstone Recreational Reserve are a visible result. The harder outcome to count is the network forming around them: families learning together, community groups returning each year, organisations sharing knowledge and volunteers discovering that environmental action can be practical, social and close to home.
For communities confronting climate and biodiversity challenges around the world, that may be one of the more transferable lessons from National Tree Day.
Planting a seedling can take only minutes. Building a community willing to care for the landscape as it grows is the longer project.
