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State of the Coast · the data

How much of the Sunshine Coast's wild country is actually left?

Sunshine Coast Council area

41%

Of every hundred hectares of bush estimated to have stood here before broadscale European clearing, forty-one remain. This is what survived, where the losses fell hardest, and what is still changing — all from published government data.

See where it went ↓Sources & method

Three terms used on this page
Native vegetation
All currently mapped native cover — every stand of native plants growing now, whether old bush or younger regrowth.
Remnant vegetation
Vegetation meeting Queensland's remnant mapping criteria — canopy height, canopy cover, characteristic species and disturbance — not simply country that was never cleared.
Pre-clearing extent
The estimated original distribution of an ecosystem before broadscale clearing — the baseline the current figures are measured against.

What survived, and what didn't

The loss wasn't shared out evenly

Some ecosystems retained almost all of their estimated pre-clearing extent; others were nearly erased from the map. The pattern runs straight down the reef-to-range gradient: the richer the soil, the harder the ground was cleared. That's why the salt-drowned mangroves still stand nearly whole, while the fertile forests and wetlands took the axe first.

Each bar is the share of an ecosystem's estimated pre-clearing extent still mapped as remnant. A full bar would mean all of that extent remains mapped — not that it is undisturbed or in good condition.

Source: Sunshine Coast Council, Biodiversity Report 2024 (3rd edition, Nov 2024). · Sunshine Coast Council LGA

The ecosystems in trouble

Nearly half of our ecosystems are endangered or of concern

Sunshine Coast Council area

Ecologists sort this coast into 77 distinct kinds of country — "regional ecosystems." 7 are now formally endangered and 28 more are of concern: about 45% living in the red. The map shows where that threatened country sits.

Sunshine Coast + Noosa

Shaded-relief map of the Sunshine Coast and Noosa, from the coastline in the east to the ranges in the west — the ground on which the region's remnant ecosystems stand.

How much of each ecosystem remains

  • Critically depleted — under 20% remains
  • 20–40% remains
  • 40–60% remains
  • 60–80% remains
  • Relatively intact — 80%+ remains
  • Not measured here

Ecosystems shown in the palest band — a dashed outline marks them on the map — have less than a fifth of their estimated original extent remaining. 12 of the region's remnant ecosystems are formally endangered; across the Sunshine Coast and Noosa, about 51% of the original bush survives.

Remnant regional-ecosystem mapping © State of Queensland, used under CC BY 4.0; relief from Copernicus GLO-30 (ESA / European Union). Share of pre-clearing extent still standing within the Sunshine Coast and Noosa council areas — indicative, not the statutory map. See the full map →

Why is this 51%, not 41%? This map covers Sunshine Coast and Noosa and uses a separate regional-ecosystem roll-up, so it is not directly comparable with the council-area estimate above.

View ecosystem data as a list

The percentage is calculated within Sunshine Coast and Noosa. Biodiversity status applies to the regional ecosystem more broadly, so an ecosystem can be locally well retained but endangered across its wider distribution. Small differences above 100% can result from mapping and boundary precision.

The Sunshine Coast and Noosa's remnant regional ecosystems, sorted from least to most remaining. Columns: ecosystem, share remaining, biodiversity status, and remnant hectares of pre-clearing hectares.
Ecosystem % remaining Biodiversity status Remnant / pre-clearing (ha)
RE 12.9-10.22 Closed sedgeland and/or shrubland on sedimentary rocks. Generally coastal 14% Of concern 79 / 558
RE 12.2.2 Microphyll/notophyll vine forest on beach ridges 15% Endangered 2 / 14
RE 12.5.3 Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa woodland on remnant Tertiary surfaces 18% Endangered 2,766 / 14,951
RE 12.9-10.7 Eucalyptus crebra +/- E. tereticornis, Corymbia tessellaris, Angophora spp. and E. melanophloia woodland on sedimentary rocks 21% Of concern 380 / 1,839
RE 12.12.12 Eucalyptus tereticornis, Corymbia intermedia, E. crebra +/- Lophostemon suaveolens woodland on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 22% Of concern 2,140 / 9,910
RE 12.3.11 Eucalyptus tereticornis +/- Eucalyptus siderophloia, Corymbia intermedia open forest on alluvial plains usually near coast 24% Of concern 3,523 / 14,792
RE 12.3.14 Banksia aemula low woodland on alluvial plains usually near coast 28% Of concern 678 / 2,424
RE 12.8.8 Eucalyptus saligna or E. grandis tall open forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks 29% Of concern 1,112 / 3,826
RE 12.8.3 Complex notophyll vine forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks, usually at altitude less than 600m 30% No concern at present 3,737 / 12,459
RE 12.11.14 Eucalyptus crebra, E. tereticornis, Corymbia intermedia woodland on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 30% Of concern 1,250 / 4,100
RE 12.5.2 Corymbia intermedia, Eucalyptus tereticornis open forest on remnant Tertiary surfaces, usually near coast and on deep red soils 31% Endangered 251 / 811
RE 12.8.14 Eucalyptus eugenioides, E. biturbinata, E. melliodora +/- E. tereticornis, Corymbia intermedia open forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks 34% No concern at present 329 / 969
RE 12.3.6 Melaleuca quinquenervia +/- Eucalyptus tereticornis, Lophostemon suaveolens, Corymbia intermedia open forest on coastal alluvial plains 36% No concern at present 995 / 2,778
RE 12.9-10.4 Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa woodland on sedimentary rocks 36% No concern at present 3,654 / 10,107
RE 12.3.20 Melaleuca quinquenervia, Casuarina glauca +/- Eucalyptus tereticornis, E. siderophloia, M. styphelioides open forest on low coastal alluvial plains 38% Endangered 523 / 1,387
RE 12.3.5 Melaleuca quinquenervia open forest on coastal alluvium 39% No concern at present 4,662 / 11,984
RE 12.3.13 Closed heathland on seasonally waterlogged alluvial plains usually near coast 40% No concern at present 2,232 / 5,590
RE 12.11.10 Notophyll vine forest +/- Araucaria cunninghamii on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 41% No concern at present 7,737 / 18,875
RE 12.3.4 Melaleuca quinquenervia, Eucalyptus robusta woodland on coastal alluvium 43% Of concern 3,780 / 8,792
RE 12.2.13 Open or dry heath on dunes and beaches 43% Endangered 80 / 186
RE 12.9-10.14 Eucalyptus pilularis tall open forest on sedimentary rocks 45% No concern at present 9,695 / 21,777
RE 12.3.2 Eucalyptus grandis tall open forest on alluvial plains 45% Of concern 5,985 / 13,223
RE 12.5.12 Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa, E. latisinensis +/- Corymbia gummifera, C. intermedia, E. bancroftii woodland with heathy understorey on remnant Tertiary surfaces 48% Of concern 76 / 159
RE 12.8.13 Araucarian complex microphyll vine forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks 48% Of concern 300 / 621
RE 12.11.16 Eucalyptus cloeziana open forest on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 49% Endangered 661 / 1,348
RE 12.9-10.1 Tall open forest often with Eucalyptus resinifera, E. grandis, E. robusta and Corymbia intermedia on sedimentary rocks, usually coastal 50% Of concern 4,764 / 9,540
RE 12.5.10 Eucalyptus latisinensis and/or Banksia aemula low open woodland on complex of remnant Tertiary surface and Tertiary sedimentary rocks 52% No concern at present 21 / 41
RE 12.12.16 Notophyll vine forest on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 52% No concern at present 2,265 / 4,326
RE 12.3.1 Gallery rainforest (notophyll vine forest) on alluvial plains 52% Endangered 4,396 / 8,376
RE 12.2.7 Melaleuca quinquenervia or rarely M. dealbata open forest on sand plains 54% No concern at present 5,749 / 10,635
RE 12.9-10.17 Eucalyptus acmenoides, E. major, E. siderophloia +/- Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata open forest on sedimentary rocks 58% No concern at present 3,958 / 6,793
RE 12.9-10.16 Araucarian microphyll to notophyll vine forest on Cainozoic and Mesozoic sediments 60% Of concern 2,087 / 3,475
RE 12.2.12 Closed heath on seasonally waterlogged sand plains 62% No concern at present 2,975 / 4,826
RE 12.12.19 Vegetation complex of rocky headlands on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 62% Of concern 51 / 82
RE 12.12.3 Open forest complex with Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata, Eucalyptus siderophloia or E. crebra or E. decolor, E. major and/or E. longirostrata, E. acmenoides or E. portuensis on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 63% No concern at present 65 / 104
RE 12.5.6 Eucalyptus siderophloia, E. propinqua, E. microcorys and/or E. pilularis open forest on remnant Tertiary surfaces. Usually deep red soils 63% Endangered 1,045 / 1,658
RE 12.11.2 Eucalyptus saligna or E. grandis, E. microcorys, Lophostemon confertus tall open forest on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 66% No concern at present 5,712 / 8,596
RE 12.1.2 Saltpan vegetation including grassland, herbland and sedgeland on marine clay plains 71% No concern at present 564 / 799
RE 12.9-10.29 Eucalyptus cloeziana +/- E. propinqua, E. acmenoides, E. microcorys and E. grandis tall open forest on sedimentary rocks 71% Of concern 607 / 854
RE 12.11.3 Eucalyptus siderophloia, E. propinqua +/- E. microcorys, Lophostemon confertus, Corymbia intermedia, E. acmenoides open forest on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 71% No concern at present 12,503 / 17,580
RE 12.1.1 Casuarina glauca woodland on margins of marine clay plains 73% Of concern 679 / 933
RE 12.2.5 Corymbia intermedia +/- Lophostemon confertus +/- Banksia spp. +/- Callitris columellaris open forest on beach ridges usually in southern half of bioregion 73% Of concern 2,278 / 3,104
RE 12.12.15 Mixed open forest including combinations of Eucalyptus propinqua, E. siderophloia, Corymbia intermedia, E. microcorys, Lophostemon confertus open forest on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 76% No concern at present 18,044 / 23,889
RE 12.5.4 Eucalyptus latisinensis +/- Corymbia intermedia, C. trachyphloia subsp. trachyphloia, Angophora leiocarpa, Eucalyptus exserta woodland on complex of remnant Tertiary surfaces and Cainozoic and Mesozoic sediments 76% No concern at present 72 / 95
RE 12.12.14 Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa +/- Lophostemon confertus, Syncarpia glomulifera, Eucalyptus acmenoides woodland to open forest usually on rocky near coastal areas on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 77% Of concern 1,172 / 1,520
RE 12.8.9 Lophostemon confertus open forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks 78% No concern at present 28 / 36
RE 12.5.9 Sedgeland to heathland in low lying areas on complex of remnant Tertiary surface and Tertiary sedimentary rocks 79% Of concern 97 / 123
RE 12.12.2 Eucalyptus pilularis tall open forest on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks especially granite 79% No concern at present 9,709 / 12,271
RE 12.11.5 Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata woodland to open forest +/- Eucalyptus siderophloia/E. crebra, E. carnea, E. acmenoides, E. propinqua on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 79% No concern at present 561 / 708
RE 12.3.8 Swamps with Cyperus spp., Schoenoplectus spp. and Eleocharis spp. 83% Of concern 228 / 274
RE 12.12.23 Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. tereticornis or E. tereticornis subsp. basaltica +/- E. eugenioides woodland to open forest on crests, upper slopes and elevated valleys and plains on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 83% No concern at present 302 / 362
RE 12.2.14 Foredune complex 84% No concern at present 967 / 1,145
RE 12.2.9 Banksia aemula low open woodland on dunes and sand plains. Usually deeply leached soils 85% No concern at present 1,119 / 1,313
RE 12.3.7 Eucalyptus tereticornis, Casuarina cunninghamiana subsp. cunninghamiana +/- Melaleuca spp. fringing woodland 86% Of concern 995 / 1,162
RE 12.12.1 Simple notophyll vine forest usually with abundant Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (gully vine forest) on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks 87% Of concern 4,679 / 5,352
RE 12.5.13 Microphyll to notophyll vine forest +/- Araucaria cunninghamii on remnant Tertiary surfaces 88% Endangered 33 / 37
RE 12.12.4 Eucalyptus acmenoides +/- Syncarpia glomulifera woodland on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks, especially granite 88% No concern at present 429 / 490
RE 12.11.1 Simple notophyll vine forest often with abundant Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (gully vine forest) on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics 90% No concern at present 4,815 / 5,373
RE 12.2.15 Gahnia sieberiana, Empodisma minus, Gleichenia spp. closed sedgeland in coastal swamps 92% No concern at present 826 / 901
RE 12.8.20 Shrubby woodland with Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa or E. dura on Cainozoic igneous rocks 92% Of concern 857 / 934
RE 12.2.8 Eucalyptus pilularis open forest on parabolic high dunes 92% No concern at present 661 / 720
RE 12.11.9 Eucalyptus tereticornis subsp. tereticornis or E. tereticornis subsp. basaltica open forest on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics, usually on ridges, crests and upper slopes 95% Of concern 1,251 / 1,322
RE 12.2.6 Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa open forest on dunes and sand plains. Usually deeply leached soils 96% No concern at present 774 / 809
RE 12.8.25 Open forest with Eucalyptus acmenoides or E. helidonica on Cainozoic igneous rocks especially trachyte 99% Of concern 124 / 125
RE 12.1.3 Mangrove shrubland to low closed forest on marine clay plains and estuaries 99% No concern at present 1,954 / 1,968
RE 12.3.17 Simple notophyll fringing forest usually dominated by Waterhousea floribunda 99% Endangered 2 / 2
RE 12.2.16 Sand blows largely devoid of vegetation 100% Of concern 121 / 121
RE 12.11.27 Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa and/or E. seeana and Corymbia intermedia woodland on metamorphics +/- interbedded volcanics ≈100% Endangered 32 / 32
RE 12.8.19 Heath and rock pavement with scattered shrubs or open woodland on Cainozoic igneous hills and mountains ≈100% Of concern 242 / 241
RE 12.2.1 Notophyll vine forest on parabolic high dunes ≈100% Of concern 20 / 20
RE 12.8.24 Corymbia citriodora subsp. variegata open forest on Cainozoic igneous rocks especially trachyte ≈100% Endangered 19 / 19
RE 12.2.3 Araucarian vine forest on parabolic high dunes ≈100% Of concern 1 / 1
RE 12.12.10 Shrubland of rocky peaks on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks ≈100% Of concern 26 / 25

Sunshine Coast + Noosa

What's under your feet?

Find your location to identify the mapped ecosystem beneath you, how much of its original extent remains, and whether it is considered at risk.

This reads your location on your device, which needs JavaScript. You can still explore every patch on the full map.

Is the clearing over?

Mostly — but not entirely

Total native cover has crept up since 2016 — probably a mix of regrowth and better satellite mapping. But mapped remnant vegetation — mature native vegetation meeting Queensland's remnant criteria — is still slipping, and every year a little more is bulldozed for good: for pasture, houses and roads.

Plantation timber, harvested and replanted on a cycle, shows up on the satellites as "clearing" but grows back. The chart below keeps it separate from the permanent loss.

Sunshine Coast + Noosa

Non-plantation clearing, year by year

Non-plantation clearing has roughly halved since its 2019-20 peak.

Non-plantation clearing — converted to another land use Plantation harvest — regrows, not permanent loss
Non-plantation clearing, year by year Non-plantation woody clearing by year, Sunshine Coast + Noosa: 365 ha (2018-19), 567 ha (2019-20), 284 ha (2020-21), 208 ha (2021-22), 270 ha (2022-23) — roughly halved since the 2019-20 peak. Plantation-forestry harvest, which regrows, is shown alongside for comparison. 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 ha 365 810 2018-19 567 416 2019-20 284 346 2020-21 208 221 2021-22 270 554 2022-23
View the annual figures
Woody clearing by year, Sunshine Coast + Noosa, in hectares (SLATS)
Year Non-plantation clearing (ha) Plantation harvest (ha)
2018-19 365 810
2019-20 567 416
2020-21 284 346
2021-22 208 221
2022-23 270 554

Statewide, Queensland woody clearing fell about 52% since 2018-19 (Qld State of the Environment 2024).

A separate question: what became of the cleared bush?

Where permanent clearing went, 2018–23 · 1,694 ha ≈ 2,066 sports fields

  • Pasture 67%
  • Houses & yards 16%
  • Crops 12%
  • Roads 4%
  • Mining 1%

Source: Queensland Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS), Sentinel-2 series, by-LGA landcover-replacement CSVs, data.qld.gov.au, CC BY 4.0. · Sunshine Coast Council LGA + Noosa Shire. SLATS tracks woody vegetation only.

The living cost

The recorded list of threatened species has grown

Habitat loss is only one of the pressures on the coast's wildlife. The number of listed threatened species recorded in council reports has risen from 104 to 135 in eight years — some of them names everyone knows.

Sunshine Coast Council area

Koala

Endangered across South East Queensland

Read the guide →

Greater glider

Uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered nationally in 2022

Read the guide →

Glossy black-cockatoo

Vulnerable; needs both she-oaks and old hollow trees

Read the guide →

The number of listed threatened species recorded in council reports rose from 104 in 2016 to 135 in 2024. That count reflects both ecological change and changes in knowledge or formal listings; it is not a direct population trend.

Source: Sunshine Coast Council, Biodiversity Report 2024 (3rd edition, Nov 2024). · Sunshine Coast Council LGA

Sunshine Coast Council area

19% of Queensland's native plant species grow on this one coast.

2 peaks in the Glass House Mountains hold the entire known natural range of the Coochin Hills grevillea.

The turn toward repair

It isn't all running one way

Nearly half the coast's remaining bush is now protected — much of it bought back from the market, or looked after by landholders on their own ground. Cleared paddocks are being coaxed back into forest; drained flats are becoming wetland again. Given the conditions it needs, damaged country can do much of the mending itself.

Sunshine Coast Council area

47%

of native vegetation protected

of the region's existing native vegetation is within the conservation estate

10,151 ha

under Land for Wildlife

voluntary private land — 22% of the estate is privately held

267,000

seedlings planted in a decade

council and community plantings

15

ecosystems remain poorly conserved

down from 24 in 2020

Source: Sunshine Coast Council, Biodiversity Report 2024 (3rd edition, Nov 2024). · Sunshine Coast Council LGA

What repair looks like

Three places you can already stand in

Sunshine Coast Council area

Those counters are the totals. Behind them sit named projects — each a place where the repair is already visible on the ground.

Maroochy River floodplain

Blue Heart

A floodplain handed back to the water

>5,000 hectares

of floodplain being restored

On low ground cut off from its own river a century ago — drained for cane and grazing — the tide is being let back in. The method is mostly subtraction: cut a gap in an old levee, and the water finds its own way in. Saltmarsh and mangrove return on the tidal flats, freshwater wetland on the ground above. It stores floods that would otherwise reach houses, cleans the water on its way to the bay, and starts the carbon vault filling again.

A partnership of Sunshine Coast Council, the Queensland Government, Unitywater and the Kabi Kabi people.

Source: Blue Heart Sunshine Coast — DCCEEW, Wetlands Australia 33 (2021); Sunshine Coast Council Blue Heart program (partners: Council, Queensland Department of Environment, Unitywater and the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation, 2025).

Lower Maroochy floodplain

Yandina Creek Wetland

From cane paddock back to wetland

168 bird species

recorded on 191 hectares

Old sugar country that quietly turned back into wetland when its tidal gates failed — then was drained again in 2015, stranding nesting birds, before a public campaign turned it around. Unitywater bought the 191 hectares in 2016, and the tide was let back in for good in 2018. The birds returned fast. It is now part of the Blue Heart.

168 waterbird and bushland species have now been recorded on the site.

Source: Yandina Creek Wetland — Unitywater; DCCEEW; bird tally via Sunshine Coast Birds (Greg Roberts).

Across the Sunshine Coast

The Environment Levy

Bush bought back, block by block

4,454 hectares

secured across 117 reserves since 1994

Reserves bought back by decade: 21 in the 1990s, 36 in the 2000s, 42 in the 2010s, 18 in the 2020s.

For about $80 a property a year, the Coast has been securing high-value bush since 1994 — 4,454 hectares across 117 reserves, 102 of them bought off the open market for $69.3 million and 15 donated or transferred — and stitching the rest together with 223 revegetation sites and 999 fauna structures recorded since the program began, of which 949 are still in place: rope bridges, glider poles and nest boxes so wildlife can cross a cleared gap.

A community taxing itself, modestly and deliberately, to hold on to its own natural capital.

Source: Sunshine Coast Council Environment Levy land-acquisition program and Annual Report 2022–23; council conservation-estate GIS layers.

The bigger picture

Zoom out, and every patch on this coast counts for more

South East Queensland bioregion

The Sunshine Coast sits inside South East Queensland — one of the most cleared and broken-up corners of the state. Across the whole bioregion about 44% of the original bush survives, and only 13.7% of it remains in patches larger than 1,000 hectares. Big patches like these are the ones most able to hold their interior species and keep functioning as habitat, so every reserve, corridor and bought-back block on this coast counts for more, not less.

Source: Queensland State of the Environment 2024 (DETSI).

What you can do

The coast is legible — and much of the damage can still be repaired

Almost every one of these gains started with ordinary people who could read what a spreadsheet couldn't. You don't need land or a science degree to join in: learn to read one patch of country, and you become someone who'd notice if it went quiet. That's where care begins.

Find a local project →
Read the country near me

Sources & method

Where these numbers come from

Council figures are the Sunshine Coast Council local government area (LGA). SLATS clearing figures and the app's per-ecosystem map cover the Sunshine Coast Council LGA + Noosa Shire combined. Each figure below carries its own scope.

  • Sunshine Coast Council, Biodiversity Report 2024 (3rd edition, Nov 2024).
  • Queensland Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS), Sentinel-2 series, by-LGA landcover-replacement CSVs, data.qld.gov.au, CC BY 4.0.
  • Queensland State of the Environment 2024 (DETSI).
  • Reading the Country RE rollup, derived from Queensland RE v13 / pre-clearing RE + REDD v13.1 (DETSI, CC BY 4.0), clipped to Sunshine Coast Council LGA + Noosa Shire.
  • Blue Heart Sunshine Coast — DCCEEW, Wetlands Australia 33 (2021); Sunshine Coast Council Blue Heart program (partners: Council, Queensland Department of Environment, Unitywater and the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation, 2025).
  • Yandina Creek Wetland — Unitywater; DCCEEW; bird tally via Sunshine Coast Birds (Greg Roberts).
  • Sunshine Coast Council Environment Levy land-acquisition program and Annual Report 2022–23; council conservation-estate GIS layers.

Indicative and educational. These figures summarise published government data; they are not the statutory Regulated Vegetation Management Map. Regional Ecosystem status reflects remnant extent, not on-ground condition.

Compiled 2026-07. Every figure on this page carries its own source and scope beside it.