Attachment 3 - Regional Ecosystem Assessment

                                                                                                                Native Foresters




Table of Contents
1.0    INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 3
  1.1    Background ....................................................................................................... 3
  1.2    Objectives ......................................................................................................... 3
  1.3    Relevant Legislation .......................................................................................... 4
  1.4    Project Outline .................................................................................................. 5
2.0    Offset Site ............................................................................................................. 5
  2.1    Site Description ................................................................................................. 5
  2.2    Offset Restoration Plan (ORP) .......................................................................... 6
    2.2.1     Offset Legislation ....................................................................................... 6
    2.2.2     Requirements of ORP ................................................................................ 6
    2.2.3     ORP Reference Sites ............................................................................... 10
3.0    RE KIT ASSESSMENT ....................................................................................... 10
4.0    METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 12
  4.1    Desktop Assessment ...................................................................................... 12
  4.2    Field Assessment ............................................................................................ 12
  4.3    RE Kit Assessment Methodology .................................................................... 12
  4.3.1    Vegetation Structure - Benchmark Attributes ............................................... 13
  4.3.2    Assessment of Characteristic Species ......................................................... 14
5.0    RESULTS – OFFSET SITE ................................................................................ 15
  5.1    Offset Site Vegetation RE Assessment ........................................................... 15
  5.2    Offset Site - OA’s Condition Summary ............................................................ 20
6.0    Summary & Recommendations .......................................................................... 23
7.0    REFERENCES ................................................................................................... 25
APPENDIX A – APPROVED LAKE MACDONALD OFFSET RESTOATION PLAN,
NOOSA COUNCIL ........................................................................................................ 26
APPENDIX B – EXAMPLE RE ASSESSMENT KIT DATA SHEETS ............................. 92

Figures
Figure 1: Location of Offset Areas, reference sites and RE Assessment Kit plot sites in
western section ............................................................................................................... 8
Figure 2: Location of Offset Areas, reference sites and RE Assessment Kit plot sites in
eastern section ................................................................................................................ 9


Tables
Table 1: Summary of Offset Areas within the Lake Macdonald offset site........................ 5
Table 2: Vegetation communities desired on Offset Site taken from ORP report (NC, 2006)
........................................................................................................................................ 7
Table 3: Reference Site Remnant Vegetation data, taken from Table 2 – Summary of
reference Site Information from ORP report (NC, 2006) (Appendix A) ........................... 10
Table 4: Reference sites RE Benchmarks for remnant vegetation ................................. 13
Table 5: Crown cover estimate table (DES, 2022) ......................................................... 14
Table 6: Summary of RE Kit Assessment results .......................................................... 16
Table 7: Summary of ORP Offset Areas (OA's) RE Assessment Results ...................... 20



Regional Ecosystem Assessment – Noosa Council Offset Site – Lake Macdonald Catchment                                                    2