Environmental Sustainability Strategy - Warringah Council - NSW ...

Bushland and Biodiversity
Biodiversity in Warringah incorporates land and
water-based plants, animals and micro-organisms.
Most biodiversity is contained in the region’s
bushland reserves and substantial waterways.
However, significant areas of biodiversity also occur
on private land in urban and rural residential areas.
The local national parks, although extensive, do not
conserve the full range of local biodiversity. Local
indigenous biodiversity in Warringah includes 140
recorded endangered and vulnerable threatened
species and ecological communities. This includes
85 plant and animal species, 74 species listed as
migratory and 7 Endangered Ecological
Communities. Of the animals classified as
threatened, 26 have dual listing - having both
permanent and migratory status.
Bushland is fundamental to Warringah’s “Bush and Beach” cultural identity. It is
invaluable to the community as a part of our natural heritage and as a scenic,
recreational, educational and scientific resource. Aside from the natural and social
values associated with bushland, it also provides ecosystem services of significant
economic value, such as flood control, erosion control, water-quality control, insect
control, reduction of light and noise pollution, carbon absorption and climate
stabilisation. Bushland provides the landscape context for many of Warringah’s
spectacular natural features, such as sandstone escarpments and places of cultural
significance.
Key Challenges
• Loss of core areas of vegetation through development and illegal land clearing
• Fragmentation of bushland and loss of wildlife corridors and habitat areas on both public and private
land
• Pest plants, animals and fungi diminishing biodiversity
• Decline in diversity and abundance of native species (threatened and non-threatened)
• Climate change effects on biodiversity
• Impacts of unsustainable and unauthorised informal recreation activities in environmentally sensitive
areas
• Impact of development pressures on biodiversity and appropriate strategic land-use planning to
address this pressure
• Balancing management of bush fire hazard risk, taking into account both natural values and risk
factors to people and property
• Inappropriate fire regimes
• Water run-off issues
• Inherent difficulties in measuring and monitoring biodiversity
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