2018-08-07 P&E Agenda - Attachment 1 to Item 3 - Noosa Biosphere Reserve 10 Year Periodic Review

                                                                    Noosa Biosphere Reserve - Periodic Review 2018




•        NSC staff
•        Noosa Community Biosphere Association
•        Noosa Integrated Catchment Association
•        Noosa & District Landcare
•        Tourism Noosa
•        Kabi Kabi Traditional Owners

These formal meetings were supplemented by the NBRF Strategic Advisor meeting individually with
over 100 people from a diverse range of backgrounds and expertise also helped to inform the
development of the PR.

Within NSC consultation occurred with relevant officers, managers, senior directors as well as with
some elected members of Council.


2.       SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING THE PAST 10 YEARS

2.1      Brief Summary Overview

The most significant changes during the PR period 2007-2017 have been:

•        An increase in the protected area estate of 6,936ha with a further 2400ha of State Forest
         proposed to be transferred to National Park over the next 10 years.
•        Sustained economic growth with a stable population and employment levels.
•        Registration of Kabi Kabi First Nation as Native Title Claimants (traditional owners) for the entire
         Biosphere Reserve area.
•        Recognition of Noosa Heads as a National Surfing Reserve in 2014 and a World Surfing Reserve
         in 2017.
•        Work in the area of scientific research and on ground projects has increased including the Noosa
         River Oyster Reef Restoration project is an ‘Australian-first’ oyster restoration project in a river
         system.
•        A change in institutional arrangements for the NBRF based on a ‘two part model’ and delivery of
         a community grants program.

2.2      Updated background information about the BR

The NBR is located within the SEQ Bioregion, one of Australia’s biodiversity hotspots. The reserve
boundaries are the whole of the Noosa Shire (see Map 1 on next page), plus a marine zone extending
5.5km out to sea. The Noosa local government area is located 143 kilometres north of Brisbane, the
capital city of Queensland. In geophysical terms, the area is located where tropical and temperate land
zones overlap (Macpherson-Macleay Overlap). The landscape is comprised of rainforests, beaches,
woodlands, wetlands, lakes, rivers, forests and mountains. Noosa lies at the intersection of the
Torresian and Bassian geographic bioregions, supporting endemism, speciation and biodiversity.

The SEQ region of Queensland is also one of the fastest growing areas in the nation, with over 500,000
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people expected to be living along the Sunshine Coast by 2036 (1.9% growth rate per annum) .




12
      ABS, Queensland Regional Profiles: Noosa and Region, (accessed 19/7/17)



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