Noosa is a world biosphere site. Noosa
Council has found 626 native vertebrate species within
Noosa Shire including 30 amphibians, 75 reptiles,
304 birds, 63 mammals, 33 primarily fresh water
fish and 121 marine fish species. The same study
found 79 butterflies and 9 freshwater crustaceans.
This is considered to be a high level of fauna
diversity and due to the extensive natural vegetation
and broad range of habitats.
Most of the rain falls into either the Noosa River
Catchment which covers 62% of the Shire or Mary
River Catchment covering 36% of the Shire. The
Noosa River flows south from behind the coastal
dunes of the Cooloola National Park and enters
the sea just north of the main beach. Most of
the upper river is protected as National park
or Conservation Reserve and this has helped in
the river receiving an ‘A’ rating
from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Vegetation types consists of Eucalypt Forest at 53%; Melaleuca Communities 16%; Rainforest 12%; Plantations 8%; Heathlands 7%; Dunes and Foreshores 3% and Mangroves 2%
In the early days mining was the main threat to Noosa's environment. In the mid 70's sand mining in Noosa Shire had ceased saving the valuable beaches, sand islands and san patches that make up the north shore area of Noosa.
The current environmental issue is real estate development and the Noosa National Parks Association have been active since 1962 to preserve the Noosa environment. Thanks to their efforts, sound planning from Noosa Council and increased public awareness the Noosa environment provides a place of great beauty to be enjoyed by all and provides the foundation for noosa tourism.
The Noosa habitat is home to many birds and is a popular place for bird watchers to visit. A good book that describes and has easy to use pictures of Noosa birds is "Common birds of Noosa Cooloola and the Sunshine Coast" written by Cecily Fernley. She has drawings for 115 birds that might be seen in Noosa.
Australian Seabird rescue group are very active in rescuing Noosa birds. Please do not feed water birds. If a bird becomes a nuisance simply hold a towel up and walk towards it.
