Cumberland Land Conservancy (CLC) is a volunteer-run not-for-profit charity established to protect and restore the natural environment of western Sydney.
Our core purpose is to acquire and conserve land locally for wildlife conservation. The Cumberland Plain is one of the most heavily cleared landscapes in Australia, with less than 6% of the Cumberland Plain Woodland remaining. This woodland is habitat for a remarkable diversity of flora and fauna including many species found nowhere else.
In recent years opportunities to acquire land for conservation have been declined by government, while existing public lands dedicated for conservation have been developed or degraded. CLC formed to fill the need for a conservation-focused community association with the experience and skills to conserve land for the sole purpose of conservation.
CLC works closely with government agencies, universities, corporations, Landcare and other community groups to assist the conservation and recovery of these habitats and their wildlife.
We also provide a diversity of educational services ranging from informal discovery tours to the TAFE Plus Courses ‘Recovering Native Wildlife’ and ‘Advanced Wildlife Recovery’.
Please consider a tax deductible donation to assist CLC in this work. Although these properties are being donated there are considerable legal costs associated with ownership transfer and in registering a conservation covenant on the land. You can donate to CLC here.
County of Cumberland
The County of Cumberland stretches from Broken Bay to the north, the Hawkesbury River to the north-west, the Nepean River to the west, the Cataract River to the south-west and Wollongong to the south.
The rugged terrain of the sandstone areas in the north and south of the county made it less suitable for logging, agriculture and human settlement. This is also the reason that this landscape forms the majority of National Parks in the area.
The fertile shale soils and open, park-like woodland of the Cumberland Plain in the west of the county provided ideal conditions for logging, followed by further clearing for agriculture and is currently subject to increased urban development.
Cumberland Plain Woodland
This unique ecological community is now listed as being critically endangered, having been reduced to a few fragmented stands.
Many of these remaining fragments are heavily degraded, subject to invasion by introduced plants and animals and under intense pressure from urban development.