Australian Native Vegetation Assessment 2001
Maria Cofinas, Colin Creighton
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001
ISBN 0 642 37128 8
Australia's native vegetation: type, extent, change
Alpine community, summit of Mount Wellington, Tas
Photo: Murray Fagg
Assessing the status of native vegetation
This section provides an assessment of the status of our native vegetation. This assessment is now feasible because of the investment made in collating, in a relatively seamless fashion, a vast array of native vegetation mapping data collected in the proceeding 15 years by a number of initiatives across Australia. In total, the National Vegetation Information System has combined mapped information from over 100 projects, involving 25 agencies to make this assessment possible.
The first part of this assessment involves gaining an overall appreciation of Australia's native vegetation prior to European settlement. This is an inferred but necessary part of the landscape jigsaw if we are to understand changes brought about by our land use and management activities, and develop options and opportunities for managing remaining native vegetation.
The assessment then provides detail of Australia's remaining native vegetation-those native vegetation remnants left after 200 years of vegetation clearing and development of Australia's soil and water resources to support our industries and provide an economic return. As well as presenting the Australia-wide analysis, examples of change and native vegetation remaining are illustrated demonstrating the richness of the National Vegetation Information System and its applicability to regional scale issues.
The grouping of Australia's complex vegetation into 23 major vegetation groups details the vegetation types we have lost and in what amounts across the Australian landscape. Analysis is provided in this assessment both nationally and by State and Territory for all major vegetation groups.
This information provides the first Australia-wide understanding of some of the opportunities for native vegetation management. Two applications are demonstrated:
- native vegetation fragmentation and therefore, how to use the information base to assist in developing priorities for native vegetation landscape repair; and
- nature conservation-what and where are the major vegetation groups protected, again providing information to assist in setting priorities for further nature conservation activities, through protection of vegetation in reservations or through increased attention to native vegetation management.
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