2020-01-16 Ordinary Meeting Agenda

ORDINARY MEETING AGENDA                                                         16 JANUARY 2020


6.   Continuous monitoring and improvement based on best available science
Data and information on koalas is used to inform mapping for development assessment purposes
and identifying on ground management actions. The Draft Strategy discusses the need for ongoing
surveys and monitoring to build knowledge on the abundance and extent of koala populations, and
the importance of identifying threats to this species.

Relationship with the Noosa Shire Koala Conservation Plan 2016
The Noosa Shire Koala Conservation Plan 2016 is consistent with the objectives of the Draft South
East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2019-2024. In particular, the Draft Strategy includes
the Yurol-Ringtail State Forests Conservation Project as a case example of a strategic and
coordinated approach with multiple stakeholders to help protect and enhance a large koala core
habitat area.

Relationship with Noosa Planning Scheme
The current Noosa Plan and the Draft Noosa Plan have code assessment provisions for
development within the Biodiversity Overlay that impact on koala habitat. The Draft South East
Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2019-2024 proposes additional provisions to protect and
restore koala habitat within the Koala Priority Areas (KPAs).
The Department of Environment and Science are running training sessions for local government
staff to become more familiar with the Draft Strategy and the new planning reforms. Noosa Council
planning staff will be attending these meetings in January 2020.

Koala Habitat Mapping
The State Koala Habitat Mapping and local Noosa Shire Koala habitat mapping are based upon
Queensland Herbarium Regional Ecosystem mapping. Council’s local mapping has also identified
additional koala habitat areas which increases the extent of koala habitat in Noosa Shire by up to
10%. These are included in the State mapping as Locally Refined Koala Habitat Areas which are to
be validated with Queensland Government within the next two years.
In Noosa Shire 50% of koala records are found in regrowth vegetation. Young regrowth is exempt
from vegetation clearing provisions. Regrowth that has matured may now be High Value Regrowth
or of Remnant status, but State Regional Ecosystem mapping may not have been updated to reflect
this. This means that some vegetation in Noosa Shire, although locally known as koala habitat, is
not afforded sufficient protection either at a State or Local Government level. Validating these areas
requires a desktop review and ground-truthing of several thousand properties to ensure all koala
habitat in Noosa Shire is captured. A recommendation of this report is to commit to a mapping review
as part of the map validation process, as required by the Queensland Government, within the next
two years.
The Vegetation Management Act 1999 has different categories of protection for vegetation. In Noosa
Shire Category X areas are mostly developed and are generally exempt from vegetation protection
provisions. However, other protective mechanisms such as the Noosa Plan Biodiversity Overlay or
State Planning Regulatory Provisions (SPRP) may still apply if relevant. A small number of properties
in Noosa Shire, although mapped as Category X areas, now have High Value Regrowth or Remnant
vegetation which are suitable koala habitat. The most recent draft of the State Koala Habitat Areas
has removed Category X areas that have a Property Map of Assessable Vegetation (PMAV). The
implication of the proposed removal is the loss of Council’s ability to apply the provisions of the
Environmental Offsets Act 2014 (that were afforded under State koala policy provisions) to mitigate,
to some extent, the loss of koala habitat in Cat X PMAV areas. Noosa Council officers have raised
these concerns with the Department of Environment and Science.

Council submission on the Draft Strategy
Attachment 2 is list of the key issues that should form the basis of a submission on the Draft South
East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2019-2024 by Council.

                                                                                     Page 15 of 19