Vegetation mapping in the Hunter

After the completion of the first stage of vegetation mapping in the Hunter-Central Rivers region, nothing stood out more clearly than the fact that nearly every single patch of native vegetation was significant.

The project is an initiative of the Hunter, Central Coast and Lower North Coast Catchment Management Boards (now the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority), and will help future planning for the catchment.

Funding

Three separate grants totalling more than $730,000 were provided for the project by the Australian Government, with additional support coming from the State Government.

Activities

"In partnership with Hunter Councils we've developed a structural vegetation map of the whole catchment between Taree, Newcastle, Gosford and the Great Dividing Range," Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority (CMA) Officer, Anna Ferguson, said.

"Mapping on the Central Coast between Lake Macquarie, Wyong and Gosford contains more detailed information with descriptions of each plant community. We aim to achieve this level of detail for the whole catchment by mid-2008."

The information now at their fingertips will be invaluable in planning for future priorities.

"It gives us the ability to analyse the areas that are more cleared and are under threat," Anna said.

"We already have this at a State level, but this is more detailed, and we needed the full picture.

"We can look at the catchment area as a whole and work out where we need to focus our efforts, and prioritise which areas need protecting first."

The organisation used satellite imagery as a major component of the mapping work.

"We conducted a pilot study of the use of 'SPOT5' satellite imagery in a project managed by the environment division of Hunter Councils," Anna said.

"It set us back a bit time-wise but it was essential, and the project is all the better for it - now we have a detailed technical report that other regions and organisations can use."

More information

• Anna Ferguson, Hunter-Central Rivers CMA Catchment Officer: (02) 4930 1030 or anna.ferguson@cma.nsw.gov.au
• Hunter Central Rivers CMA 

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

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Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts