Byron Environment Centre-BEC

06/06/2026

Happy belated World Environment Day from the graffiti clean-up crew!

02/06/2026

Sounds great- see you there!

Join us on Sunday 28 June from 3pm–8pm at the Paddock Project in Mullum, for a community fundraising event supporting Wangan and Jagalingou - Standing Our Ground and the ongoing fight for First Nations resilience, water protection, and Caring for Country.

The afternoon and evening will bring together community members, speakers, and supporters to share conversations around Caring for Country, Indigenous resilience and environmental action. We will be hosting a screening of Nagana Yarrbayn: The Water Protectors, a powerful 25-minute documentary following Senior Cultural Custodian Adrian Burragubba and the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) people in their fight to protect the sacred Doongmabulla Springs from destruction by Adani’s Carmichael mine.

From the sacred springs to the courtroom, community gatherings, and the national stage, the film documents the strength, resistance, and cultural responsibility of the W&J people as they defend their ancestral waters and sacred lore.

Tickets here: https://actionnetwork.org/ticketed_events/waddananggu-film-screening-fundraiser

25/05/2026

After fires, floods, Cyclone Alfred and ongoing coastal erosion, Byron Shire Council has voted to call for a National Climate Compensation Fund funded by coal, oil and gas corporations, passing the motion at Thursday’s council meeting.

Four years on from the 2022 floods, people in Byron Shire are still rebuilding homes, infrastructure and lives. The council joins a growing number of communities across Australia calling for a Climate Compensation Fund that demands big polluters pay their fair share.

This is what community leadership looks like: councils, residents and local leaders coming together to demand a fairer system - one where the corporations driving climate pollution contribute to the costs communities are already carrying.

Momentum is growing, and as more councils back this push, it’s becoming clear that communities across Australia are ready for a fairer approach to climate recovery and resilience.

10/04/2026

Come on down and sign the Polluter Pays petition. Why should councils and ratepayers have to pay for climate disasters, while coal and gas companies hardly even pay tax or royalties?

15/03/2026

Machinery has just started operating around our forest protector Daisy Nutty, who has locked onto a harvester in Cherry Tree State Forest.
Why are they so determined to destroy our wildlife habitats, carbon sinks and any hope for a liveable future?!?
Stand Up for forests in Lismore next Sunday, March 22, 10am at the Lismore Quad!

15/03/2026

03/03/2026

Sign the open letter!

Walk For Truth – The path forward starts with truth. Add your name to the open letter to the Prime Minister.

23/01/2026

📆Join Sisters for Reconciliation and Byron Shire Council on Monday 26 January at Apex Park in Byron Bay from 10am to 2pm for music, speeches, stalls and more.

Survival Day is a vibrant reminder of resilience and unity, where the spirit of the land and its people come alive in a tapestry of culture and celebration.

Bring your own picnic rug.

Image credit: Artwork by Kaitlyn Clark.

07/01/2026

The Byron Environment Centre is excited to announce our sausage sizzle at Bunnings in Ballina this Sunday!

The repairs of the boardwalk in the Cumbebin Wetlands are nearly finished, and funds raised will help us pay our insurance and continue to maintain this special area for another year.

We will be doing the barbecue in BEC style, with recycled napkins and options available for vegan sausages and wholemeal bread 😊

Come and show your support between 8am and 4pm, this Sunday, January 11!

11/12/2025

Please look after our Wetlands!

The Byron Environment Centre is the trustee of a Crown Lands section of the Cumbebin Wetlands at the back of the Farmers’ Markets site in Butler Street. It is not Council land. Around 23 years ago, we built a boardwalk on the site, so everyone could enjoy this beautiful Melaleuca forest and its diverse ecosystem of birds, microbats, froglets and snakes. Unfortunately, the boardwalk was damaged in the floods of 2022, and since then it’s been closed for safety reasons. Teenage vandals have since been frequenting the site, and regularly contributing to its destruction, while locals have been using an area behind the low wall at the entrance as a dumping ground for household goods and rubbish. Amongst much other debris, we’ve found an old toilet bowl dragged deep into the forest and smashed into pieces, and a wheelchair tied up into a tree with electric cord.

Although we are a small group of (not young) volunteers, we have been working to repair the damage, and have recently been awarded a State Government grant to help fund the restoration. Our carpenter has been making good progress, but just as he was approaching completion, people have again broken through our fencing and knocked down some of the concrete supports of the structure. They have also spread the dumped waste throughout the wetlands and graffitied signs.

We are asking residents to please stop using this precious wild habitat as a rubbish dump, and parents to urge their children to respect out natural heritage. If the destruction continues, we may have to spend our limited budget on security patrols, or even demolish the boardwalk, which would break our hearts. We built the boardwalk so that the whole community could find a peaceful sanctuary and enjoy the wonders of the wetland. It would be a terrible thing to lose it.

All life is interconnected and a thriving environment is essential to the well-being of us all.