Nature conservation

Native animals

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About this publication

The native vegetation of the Woronora, O'Hares and Sydney Metropolitan catchments

July 2003


The Woronora, O'Hares and Metropolitan catchments stretch across more than 105,000 hectares on the Woronora Plateau, south-west of Sydney. Nearly 87 per cent of this area is covered by native bushland.

This report describes the distribution and composition of the native vegetation found in these catchments. It's the result of an extensive survey of the area. More than 570 sites were surveyed, and 48 vegetation communities were identified in the study area - 12 of which are classified as endangered. Over 80 per cent of the vegetation was reported as 'low disturbance'.

The report aims to:

  • develop a classification system to describe the vegetation communities in the catchments, using systematic field data and quantitative analytical methods
  • review existing vegetation surveys and mapping
  • outline the extent of native vegetation cover
  • map the current distribution of vegetation communities
  • examine relationships between the vegetation communities in the catchments, and those found elsewhere in the Sydney Basin Bioregion
  • map the intensity and type of disturbance within each vegetation community in the catchments.

You can download vegetation maps from the report below. However, if you would like a copy of the report, you'll need to buy them from the NPWS - download an order form below.

Documents to download


Page last updated: 21 February 2008