2016-12-12 General Committee - Attachment 1 to Item 6 - Biodiversity Assessment Report

                                                 Noosa Biodiversity Plan – Biodiversity Assessment Report




of these areas (Cato, 1979). From the 1820’s to the 1960’s, early free settlers then exploited the natural
resources available in Noosa Shire (Brown 2000, Cato 1979). Forests were cleared for timber and to
establish farming areas, and the dispersal and dispossession of indigenous people soon followed (Davies
& Salmon, 1995). Large-scale draining of low-lying coastal areas was undertaken, and grazing animals
were introduced into the area.

The timber industry formed the foundation of the Noosa Shire economy with the extraction of hardwood
and softwood timbers, particularly in the Kin Kin forests, providing building materials and furniture grade
timber to the growing settlements around Brisbane. Dairy, oysters, banana, bean, and beef industries
soon followed. However, these industries declined in the 1960s and many areas became degraded by
lantana and other invasive weeds.

The tourism industry in Noosa dates back to at least the 1870s, with the 1920s seeing the establishment
of beach camping. However, an injection of funding to develop Hastings Street in the 1970s and 1980s
led to a boom in tourist and holiday accommodation providers and tourism in Noosa Shire. Hastings Street
became a global magnet for tourism. This period also saw a conflict between rampant development of
Noosa, and the community’s desire to retain the natural beauty of the area.

The local environmental movement took shape in 1962 when Dr Arthur Harrold formed the Noosa Parks
Association. This organisation immediately began lobbying for the expansion of the Noosa National Park
and the protection of Cooloola. Eventually, the Noosa Council began to incorporate strategies of
environmental conservation and sensitive development with momentum gaining during 1982 – 1985 and
from 1988 and into the 1990’s. In 1997 a Strategic Plan set the first limits to growth for the shire based
on the carrying capacity of the environment and infrastructure.

In 2007 the entire area within the boundaries of Noosa Shire was declared a biosphere reserve under
UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program (MaB). Collectively, all biospheres within the MaB program
form a world network of like-minded communities (Noosa Biosphere Ltd 2014a).

In 2008, Noosa Council was amalgamated with Maroochy Shire and Caloundra City Councils under a
state-wide rationalisation program, to form the SCRC. After a strong community-driven push, Noosa de-
amalgamated from SCRC in 2014, to re-establish the independent Noosa Shire and Council that had
previously operated from 1910 to 2008.

For more than 50 years, Noosa has been home to one of the earliest and consistently active networks of
community conservation groups in Queensland. Noosa Council has an extension service to engage
private landholders in voluntary conservation programs, and numerous scientific studies of world standing
continue to be undertaken in the area.


2.3   Bio ph ys ic al C ha r ac t e ri st ic s
The Noosa Shire has a long geological history of volcanic activity, erosion, and deposition which are all
processes that formed the underlying geology across Noosa (Lewis et al. 2007).

The oldest known rocks in the area are the conglomerate and sandstone of the Keefton Formation. These
are sedimentary rocks which were formed by initial deposition of unconsolidated material. The rocks
outcrop only in the south-west comer of the Shire. The Keenon Formation is overlain by the younger
sedimentary rocks of the Kin Kin Beds which were deposited in a marine environment (Shields, 1995).

The sedimentary rocks of the Kin Kin Beds were subsequently deformed and folded resulting in alteration
of the rocks into low-grade metamorphics in localised areas. These phyllitic beds in the western (inland)
parts of the shire resulted in low mountains, hills and steep escarpments that dominate this area today


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