LAND BIODIVERSITY

Tasmania is renowned for its unique and diverse ecosystems, which are home to many well-known and loved plants and animals. Cradle Coast NRM aims to manage, restored and, protect the region’s ecosystems to provide secure habitat for all native terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna species.

Large areas of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area’s (WHA) 1.38 million hectares are located within the Cradle Coast region.   The region provides pristine habitats for a range of plants and animals that are found nowhere else in the world, including many rare and endangered species.  It also offers a final refuge for species that have only recently become extinct on mainland Australia and for those species that are threatened within Tasmania.

Other significant ecosystems in the region include saltmarsh wetlands, alpine peatlands and Snow Gum forests, extensive Buttongrass plains, threatened Melaleuca ericifolia swamp forest, and resilient coastal heath buffeted by the strong west coast winds.

There are 140 threatened species listed (at state or national level) in the Cradle Coast Region. Amongst other biodiversity projects, threatened species protection projects have been a big focus for Cradle Coast NRM, and will continue to be so under the second phase of the National Landcare Program.