Environment and Resource Management

Vegetation communities

Bioregions

Queensland is divided into 13 bioregions (PDF, 239K)* based on broad landscape patterns that reflect the major underlying geology, climate patterns and broad groupings of plants and animals.

Regional ecosystems

Regional ecosystems (REs) are vegetation communities that are consistently associated with a particular combination of geology, land form and soil in a bioregion. The Queensland Herbarium has mapped the remnant extent of regional ecosystems for much of the State using a combination of satellite imagery, aerial photography and on-ground studies.

Each regional ecosystem has been assigned a conservation status which is based on its current remnant extent (how much of it remains) in a bioregion.

Regional ecosystems are declared in the Vegetation Management Regulation 2000 and are classified as:

Endangered if:

Of concern if:

Least concern if:

Check the DERM website for:

What is remnant vegetation?

Queensland’s vegetation management framework regulates the clearing of remnant vegetation as shown on a regional ecosystem map or remnant map, as well as certain non-remnant or regrowth vegetation, as shown on the regrowth vegetation map.

Remnant vegetation is vegetation that meets the following criteria:

Regional ecosystem maps

Regional ecosystem maps (RE maps) describe the extent and conservation status of remnant vegetation as regional ecosystems. They provide information crucial to the preparation of an application to clear vegetation, particularly for developing a property vegetation management plan.

On a regional ecosystem map, remnant vegetation is shown as either a remnant endangered regional ecosystem (pink), a remnant of concern regional ecosystem (orange), or a remnant least concern regional ecosystem (green). Where regional ecosystem mapping does not exist, the remnant map will identify areas of remnant and non-remnant vegetation.

Additional information that may be shown on an RE map, which is also relevant to a clearing application, includes areas of essential habitat - areas identified by DERM as essential habitat for a species of wildlife listed as endangered, vulnerable, near threatened or rare under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Regional ecosystem maps and remnant maps are available for download, free of charge, from the DERM website. These maps can also be viewed at local DERM offices.

Regrowth

Regulations to protect certain regrowth vegetation took effect from 8 October 2009. These arrangements replaced the regrowth moratorium which ended on 7 October 2009.

High-value regrowth vegetation and regrowth watercourses are now regulated under the vegetation management framework and are shown on the Regrowth Vegetation Map.

High-value regrowth vegetation is mature native vegetation that hasn’t been cleared since 31 December 1989. 

All native vegetation within 50 metres of a regrowth watercourse is regulated in the priority Great Barrier Reef catchments of Burdekin, Mackay Whitsunday and Wet Tropics. 

More information about the regrowth arrangements is available on the regulations for clearing regrowth vegetation web page. 

Contact information

If you have problems downloading any of these documents, would like a copy mailed to you, or would like to view a digital or hard copy of vegetation maps, please contact:

Central West Region

North Region

South East Region

South West Region

See DERM business centres for a map depicting the boundaries of each region, and for a full service centre directory.

For email enquiries, please email VM Enquiries.

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Last updated 9 March 2011

Vegetation management

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