2021-06-17 OM Agenda - Item 2 - Attachment 1 - Draft Noosa Bushland Reserve Strategic Management Plan 2021-2026

4.2.3       Landscape and Scenic Amenity Values
The Noosa community values the natural look and feel of the shire. This is a result of Council
planning for its built environment, and the large amount (relative to SEQ) of vegetated land
remaining within the shire. This is 55% compared to 35.5% for the remainder of the South East
Queensland local government areas (SEQC 2016). Council’s bushland reserve network
contributes to this sense of natural space by protecting scenic vistas such as vegetated fore dunes,
waterways and ridgelines.
4.2.4       Climate Change Amelioration
Being a coastal shire, Noosa is particularly exposed to the predicted impacts of climate change.
These impacts are summarised as:
 Increased coastal erosion, coastal hazards, and extensive inundation from sea level rise;
 More frequent mass die off of vegetation and vulnerable flora and fauna;
 Loss of rainforest and expansion of eucalypt forests resulting in greater intensity, spread and
   frequency of bushfires;
 Loss of saltmarshes and swamps from sea level rise;
 Reduction or loss of native folivores from increased CO2 levels in foliage;
 Increased frequency and intensity of flood events;
 More disturbance to native ecosystems leading to an increase in weed incursions.

Bushland reserves will play an important role in buffering the effects of climate change both
physically (temperature regulation, stability for ‘at-risk’ landscapes) and through carbon storage
and capture. They can provide refugia during adverse climatic events (such as riparian areas
during a prolonged drought), and as potential dispersal corridors for fauna (and flora propagules)
as species retreat or retract to less impacted areas.

In Coastal areas this will be particularly important, where vegetation coverage will support frontal
dune stabilisation. The draft Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan and (not yet developed) Coastal
Foreshore Management Plan will assist in guiding management actions in the future. This will
provide further direction in management of the foreshore coastal zone for the purposes of
maintaining the environmental values of the dunes. While this will provide some asset protection to
properties, there are other actions that may be required, beyond the scope of a bushland
management plan, to ensure resilience against climate change impacts where the placement of
assets make retreat a difficult option.
4.3     Cultural & Historical Values
Both European and Aboriginal cultural values are present within the bushland reserve network.
European cultural and historical values include historical relicts such as early European built
structures, tree stumps with springboard scars, and commemorative (early 19th century) trees
such as pine and camphor laurel trees. Evidence of Aboriginal occupation of the reserve network
includes scar trees, artefacts, bora rings and shell middens.

Aboriginal peoples have been environmental stewards of the Noosa region and still maintain a
deep relationship today with the biodiversity, waterways and wetlands of the area. Noosa’s natural
environment has been integral to the Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) people’s cultural values, customs
and spiritual beliefs.

In relation to the identification of sites of significance, Council refers in the first instance to the
‘Indigenous Cultural Heritage Study of Noosa Shire 2004 and Sunshine Coast Council 2009,
Sunshine Coast Cultural Heritage Background Study.

As identified in The Noosa Cultural Plan, Indigenous Cultural Heritage is a priority focus area
stating that Council will work with Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi first nation’s people to increase the
awareness and understanding of our local indigenous cultural heritage.

Noosa Bushland Reserves Strategic Management Plan 2021 – 2026                                        Page 18