2022-05-10 Planning and Environment Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                               10 MAY 2022


6       VEGETATION ASSESSMENT PROJECT UPDATE

Author            Environment Officer - Vegetation Assessment, Vanessa Moscato
                  Environment & Sustainable Development Department

Index             ECM/ Subject/Environment Management/Vegetation 21.46

Attachments       1.    Project Methodology
                  2.    Project outputs
                  3.    Regional Ecosystems of Noosa Shire 2019
                  4.    Revised Regional Ecosystems of Noosa Shire


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A review of Council’s vegetation mapping was undertaken to improve its accuracy and to better inform
development assessment and natural resource management programs. This report summarises
progress on the Vegetation Assessment Project. The gains in local accuracy have been significant as
shown in the maps and summary data provided in this report. Other significant outcomes of the project
are noted, and recommendations relating to vegetation assessment and management in Noosa Shire
are provided.
RECOMMENDATION
That Council note the report by the Environment Officer, Vegetation Assessment to the Planning &
Environment Committee Meeting dated 10 May 2022 providing an update on the vegetation
assessment project.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
The Noosa Environment Strategy 2019 aims for no net loss of ecosystem values across the shire:
Strategy 1.1 Protect and enhance existing ecosystems, vegetation networks and habitats Target:
By 2030, there is no net loss of ecosystem values across the shire
Measurement: Every 5 years updated regional ecosystem mapping will be used to identify changes in
the number and extent of regional ecosystems.
Consistent with the Noosa Environment Strategy 2019, a vegetation assessment project was
undertaken to improve the accuracy and resolution of the shire’s vegetation mapping from a 1:50,000
scale to a 1:25,000 scale. This project will enable accurate measurement of progress towards the no
net loss target.
DEFINITIONS
Regional ecosystem: a three number code used to represent a vegetation community in a bioregion
that is consistently associated with a particular combination of geology, landform and soil.
Remnant vegetation: as defined by the Vegetation Management Act 1999 is vegetation that has not
been cleared, or vegetation that has been cleared and has regrown, and now possesses the
characteristics of the original vegetation community in terms of structure and composition. It is an
evolving concept that recognises the changing state and maturation of a vegetated area. Woody
vegetation is mapped as remnant where the dominant canopy has greater than 70% of the height and
greater than 50% of the cover relative to the undisturbed height and cover of that stratum and is
dominated by species characteristic of the vegetation's undisturbed canopy. Remnant vegetation can
be as young as 20 years old for heath, 30 years old for eucalypt forest and 40 years old for rainforest.
Old growth vegetation: forest that is ecologically mature where the effects of disturbance are
negligible. Old-growth forests are considered to have important environmental values because of their
intrinsic biological diversity, presence of large hollows, their aesthetic properties and their rarity. Trees
in old growth forests are over 100 years old.
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