2022-05-10 P&E Committee Agenda - Item 5 - Attachment 1 - DRAFT - Noosa Threatened Fauna species Recovery Road Map

3.2       Findings
Noosa Shire is located within the south-east Queensland Bioregion, an area of exceptionally high biodiversity,
lying in the zone where tropical and temperate land zones overlap. This provides for a set of conditions that
support a great variety of plants and animals. Noosa has a large variety of all three levels of biodiversity, at the
genetic, species and ecosystem level. These are supported by a wide range of ecosystem types, including
rainforests, beaches, woodlands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, forests, mountains and marine areas.
3.2.1     Regional habitats

From the evaluation of supporting information, seven (7) key Noosa Regional habitat types were identified from a
total of sixty-four regional ecosystems;

    •   Rainforests and Scrubs
    •   Eucalypt forests and woodlands
    •   Ecotones and combined habitats
    •   Freshwater waterways, wetlands and riparian zones
    •   Heaths and other coastal communities
    •   Mangroves and Saltmarsh
    •   Coastal and Marine

Actions Required under the Road Map
To achieve an integrated approach, key threatened species to be considered as management priorities should
proportionally represent each of the regional key habitat types (listed above).


3.2.2     Regional threatened ecological communities

The Noosa Shire contains four (4) threatened ecological communities that are recognised and protected under
the Commonwealth legislation (EPBC 1999);

    •   Critically Endangered Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia (“Lowland rainforest”)
    •   Vulnerable Subtropical and Temperate Salt Marsh (“Saltmarsh”)
    •   Endangered Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest
    •   Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests (conservation advice soon to be listed)

Actions Required under the Road Map
To support other Council environment strategies, the nomination of key threatened species for management
priorities should prioritise (where justified) fauna species that utilise threatened ecological communities.


3.2.3     Regional fauna of conservation significance

Through the comprehensive desktop review process, a total of thirty-four (34) regional conservation significant
species were identified from the available resources. That is, regional species that are currently listed of
conservation significance (least concern to critically endangered) under either the NCA and or EPBC Acts. Table 2
identifies the regional fauna species of conservation significance shortlisted for management priority under the
NES.