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The Value of Our Bushland

Those of us who live in the Blue Mountains, in the City within a World Heritage Area, are highly privileged.

Almost all of us live within sight of the bush.

All of us are bushland neighbours.

The values of our bushland are many and substantial.

Our Natural Heritage

Bushland is our natural heritage. It is a large part of what makes the Blue Mountains unique. It determines the visual identity of the landscape. Our bushland helps us to define our place on earth.

Aesthetic Values

Bushland has high aesthetic value, dividing our urban spaces with its characteristic greenness and the familiar shapes of gum trees.

Bushland reduces noise, air and visual pollution, creates a feeling of peace and space, and enhances the residential life of our townships and villages.

Health, Recreation and Education

Bushland aids our health by providing a means of relief from everyday stress.

Bushland offers an environment which restores our sense of wellbeing, a place where physical and mental balance can be achieved.

Bushland provides a place for a variety of recreational activities, and attracts large numbers of tourists who contribute substantially to our economy.

It is also an invaluable resource for the educational and scientific study of its flora, fauna, ecology, geology, and history.

Protection of Natural Systems

Bushland reduces soil erosion and land degradation.

It protects the water quality in our creeks and rivers and in our drinking water catchments; it acts as a natural filter for all the essential biological cycles on which all people on earth depend.

Bushland provides a buffer between the developed areas of the City and the Blue Mountains National Park, and helps to protect the integrity of the ecosystems of the Park and the wider World Heritage Area.

photo: © Lyndal Sullivan

Habitat

Bushland provides habitat for indigenous plant and animal species, conserves rare and endangered flora and fauna, and enables the long term survival of existing animal and plant communities.

Bushland provides wildlife corridors and vegetation links with our National Park and the World Heritage Area, enabling us to experience our native wildlife in our urban areas.

Conservation and Protection

Above all, bushland conserves and protects the biodiversity of the unique plants and animals of the Blue Mountains.

With the privilege of living so close to bushland comes the responsibility for its conservation and protection.

In many Blue Mountains townships residents have taken positive action to protect and restore their bushland reserves through joining the volunteer Bushcare movement.