Fine scale vegetation map of Coffs Harbour

The City of Coffs Harbour recognises the importance of our regions biodiversity. To better understand the native vegetation of our region we mapped it at a fine scale. It provides information on the type and extent of vegetation communities in our Local Government Area.

The primary purpose of the map was to produce a fine-scale vegetation map to improve our planning and decision-making processes.

The project began in 2010 and was completed over 2 years. The Coffs Harbour Fine-Scale Vegetation Map was captured using high resolution digital imagery and produced at a scale of less than 1:5,000 with a minimum patch size of less than 0.25 ha. The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has defined vegetation class mapping from Class 1 (coarse) to Class 5 (fine).

The development of the Class 5 Vegetation Map has been a multi-agency initiative supported by City of Coffs Harbour, the Office of Environment and Heritage and the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority. It is anticipated that the fine-scale vegetation map will be adopted by a range of end-users and natural resource managers and be considered the ‘benchmark’ for vegetation assessment in the Coffs Harbour LGA.

Report documents

The map is accompanied by two volumes of scientific data that detail the methodologies used and vegetation community types found within the LGA. 

VOLUME 1: Project Report(PDF, 2MB) - Volume 1 details the methodology used to derive the Fine-scale Vegetation Map for the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area.

VOLUME 2: Vegetation Community Profiles(PDF, 13MB)  - Volume 2 provides a detailed description of each of the vegetation communities identified in the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area.

 

The plant communities of the Coffs Harbour Area 

The project has mapped existing vegetation cover, classified and identified vegetation communities across the entire Coffs Harbour LGA. The mapping and classification system were informed by existing mapping and field survey program involving 3,754 on-ground sites.

It has identified 79 vegetation communities:

  • 66 were derived from data collected during 534 full plant surveys, and
  • 13 were identified from aerial photograph interpretation (API).

For more information contact the Council's Biodiversity Officer on 02) 6648 4000.

Looking to do some planting?

Information on suggested species can be found in the Species Selection Guide

 

 

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