Attachment 3 - Regional Ecosystem Assessment

                                                                                       Native Foresters



    •    To quantify the condition of the vegetation at 27 Offset Areas (OA’s) within the
         offset site at Lake Macdonald to determine remnant status based on a number of
         vegetation structure attributes including canopy height and cover, and species
         composition, undertaken in compliance with the requirements of the Queensland
         Herbarium Regional Ecosystem Assessment Kit, Version 1.0, (DES, 2022);
    •    To determine if vegetation within the OA’s meets the benchmark requirements to
         be mapped as remnant under QLD state RE mapping, undertaken in compliance
         with the requirements of the ‘Methodology for surveying and mapping regional
         ecosystems and vegetation communities in Queensland’ (Neldner et al. 2022); and
    •    To comment on the progress of the Noosa Council Offset Restoration Plan (ORP)
         in relation to current vegetation condition within the offset area, and to provide
         relevant RE Assessment Kit documents to be submitted to DES (assessed through
         QLD Herbarium) to support a change in remnant status where appropriate. RE
         Assessment Kit information, including raw data and GIS files to support a change
         of mapped vegetation within the offset site to remnant status where relevant, has
         been included as a separate document - RE Assessment Kit, Noosa Council Lake
         Macdonald Offset Site, document number: 220920-REA-D.

1.3      Relevant Legislation

To evaluate the RE condition and status of vegetation across the offset site the following
legislation and guidelines were reviewed:

Legislation -
   • Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) –
       Commonwealth
   • Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NCA) – State
           o Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020
   • Planning Act 2016 and Planning Regulation 2017 – State
   • Vegetation Management Act 1999 (VMA) – State
   • NR&M Interim Policy for Vegetation Management Offsets 3 October 2005 -
       (Superseded by the Environmental Offsets Act 2014 and Environmental Offsets
       Regulation 2014 – State).

Guidelines -
   • Regional Ecosystem Assessment Kit, Version 1.0, Queensland Herbarium,
       Department of Environment and Science (DES), 13 June 2022 - State
   • ‘Methodology for surveying and mapping regional ecosystems and vegetation
       communities in Queensland’ (Neldner et al. 2022) - State




Regional Ecosystem Assessment – Noosa Council Offset Site – Lake Macdonald Catchment                      4