Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government

ackdrop to areas of the City, conserves habitat for native animals and plants, as well as
providing recreational opportunities for residents and visitors to Gosford.
Gosford City has a rich diversity of terrestrial and aquatic native flora and fauna species and
communities. There is almost 74,700 hectares (72.6% of LGA) of native vegetation in the LGA,
comprising 83 distinct vegetation communities ranging from warm temperate rainforest, tall
moist forest, open woodland scrub, heath, hanging swamps, coastal wetland and saltmarsh.
Table 1 provides a summary of Gosford's terrestrial flora and fauna.
Table 1: Quick snap shot of Gosford City’s natural features.
How much is native vegetation?
• Almost 74,700 hectares of native vegetation remain. (Gosford City Council
Geographical Information System - GCC GIS)
How much is cleared?
• 3,360 hectares are mapped as cleared or underscrubbed lands supporting only canopy
trees either with agricultural landscapes or in urban areas.
• over 600 hectares are mapped as previously cleared areas now undergoing natural
regeneration and over 170 hectares are exotic vegetation /plantations (ie pine
plantations and stands camphor laurel). (GCC GIS)
83 distinct vegetation communities have been identified as occurring in Gosford City, this
includes 28 local variants. (Bell 2004)
Approximately 1400 plant species are identified in Gosford City of which over 330 are
introduced plants known to occur as weeds in bushland areas. (Bell 2004)
There are at least 430 native vertebrate animals and 20 introduced animals found in the
Gosford LGA. (DECC Atlas)
There are 11 endangered ecological communities (Supplementary Sustainability Report 2007)
Within the Gosford LGA there is a diversity of aquatic habitats. The area includes freshwater
and marine wetlands, rivers, creeks, estuaries, lagoons, beaches, coastal reefs and rock
platforms. The majority of these habitats support a healthy diversity of aquatic flora and fauna.
However, a few habitats, such as the coastal lagoons and urban streams, are under huge
pressure from development and other land use activites. The natural beauty of the region,
particularly its waterways; coupled with its proximity to both Sydney to the south and Newcastle
to the north, attracts thousands of visitors each year. Table 2 provides a summary of Gosford's
aquatic flora and fauna. Almost 10,000 hectares or 9.7% of the local government area consists
of waterways which provide a range of habitats from exposed open beaches to quite secluded
estuarine bays and inlets.
Biodiversity Strategy Page 14