Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub

Just inside the Robertson Road gates to Centennial Park, you’ll find a small, cultivated patch of what is known as Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub. This ecological community of plant species once dominated the sandy-soiled eastern suburbs of Sydney.

The community once grew extensively on about 5,300 hectares of land between North Head and Botany Bay in Sydney, but less than 150 hectares (or about 3%) of the original extent remains. These remnants are scattered across Sydney’s eastern and northern suburbs such as Randwick, Botany Bay and Manly, Sutherland Shire and the Royal National Park.

It is now listed as a critically endangered ecological community.

Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub community include Heath-leaved Banksia, Old Man Banksia, Wallum Banksia, Tick Bush, Coastal Tea-tree, Flannel Flower, Tree Broom-heath, Grass Tree, Pink Wax Flower, and Sweet Scented Wattle.

Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub contains habitat, which shelters small native animals such as ringtail possums, blue-tongued lizards and birds. Native birds such as the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo and Wattle Birds rely on it as a source of food.