WORK has started on the development of about two hectares of Western Sydney Parklands (WSP) into a "community lung" in Blacktown.
It will include the planting of 10,000 trees a hectare for the loss of critically endangered Cumberland Plain woodland and endangered River-Flat eucalypt forest in the region.
Concrete products manufacturer Holcim Australia Pty Ltd donated money for the work at the corner of Richmond Road and Quakers Hill Parkway.
Western Sydney Parklands Trust environment officer David Kirkland said the company was allowed to clear nearby parklands for its proposed rail facility after it agreed to fund the project.
Mr Kirkland said the work involved turning over the soil for the revegetation and regeneration of the former farmland infested with weeds and shrubs.
"Besides providing the community with a place of relaxation and exercise, the trees will encourage birds from Queensland to stop over before continuing their journey to South Australia," he said."The revegetation [will] expand corridors of bushland and connect fragmented remnants in the Blacktown local government area."
He said additional plantings would continue over the next two years and management would ensure success of the revegetation as part of the Trust's "Bringing Back the Bush" program.
A Trust spokeswoman said its rangers had seen a steady increase in the number of people using parklands.
"According to our parks with count facility there has been a 65 per cent increase in its use over the past two years," she said.