2022-05-10 Planning and Environment Committee Meeting Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                          10 MAY 2022


Rationale for project
Since its development in 1999, the Regional Ecosystem mapping system has been increasingly used
by both government and non-government stakeholders to describe and quantify changes to
biophysical environments and avoid or mitigate impacts to these environments. The smallest
mappable vegetation feature that can be delineated using the Regional Ecosystem maps (1:50,000
scale) is one hectare. In Noosa Shire, these maps are based on 1:100,000 surface geology mapping,
with the smallest mappable geological feature being 4 hectares.
Unavoidable discrepancies between mapped and actual vegetation communities have resulted from
the spatial resolution limitations of remotely-sensed data; omissions from the digital surface geology
layer; a heavy reliance on aerial imagery interpretation and insufficient ground-truthing. Accuracy
estimates suggest that the Regional Ecosystem maps are approximately 80% accurate. Whilst this
level of accuracy may be sufficient for state government purposes, it does not provide the accuracy
required at a local government level. Queensland Herbarium has stated that it does not have the
resources available to do fine-scale RE map updates for all shires in Queensland.
LiDAR (Light detection and ranging) was used in 2008-2009 to fine-tune the mapping of vegetation
cover across the Sunshine Coast to 1:25,000 and improve the accuracy of Council’s Biodiversity
Overlay. LiDAR is a remote sensing technique that accurately maps three-dimensional vegetation
structure (e.g. tree height), but it does not provide information on floristic composition or regional
ecosystems.
Council relies on regional ecosystem (RE) mapping in the following ways:
     Infrastructure development: RE maps inform Council’s Biodiversity Overlay which trigger
      environmental assessment and conditioning, and any associated requirements for impact
      avoidance and mitigation.
     Strategic planning: RE maps help us measure progress towards our Environment Strategy
      targets and guide area-based planning scheme reviews.
     Natural Resource Management: RE maps are used for conservation planning and for
      management of threatened species and habitats, wetlands, foreshores and reserves.
     Emergency and fire management: RE maps inform bushfire hazard mapping and emergency
      responses.
Because state environmental mapping products were not designed to be used at the scale at which
local Councils and their residents are relying on them, it has become incumbent upon local government
to invest in improving the accuracy of the mapping.
The information collected during this project will specifically inform the following:
     Review of Environment Strategy biodiversity targets;
     Noosa Plan Biodiversity Overlay Mapping for development assessment;
     Koala Habitat Mapping as a requirement of the SEQ Koala Conservation Strategy;
     Queensland Fire Hazard Mapping which is the basis of Council’s Bushland Reserve Fire
      Management Plan.
1.    Project methodology
The methodology for review of Noosa’s vegetation mapping is shown in Appendix 1.
The review of Council’s vegetation mapping products is ongoing. The project employs a full-time
project officer until 30 June 2022 and is funded from Cat D Bushfire Recovery Funding and the
environment levy.
Staff are exploring options to continue funding for the project under unexpended funds from the Cat D
Bushfire Recovery Funding.



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