Managing biodiversity in our cotton 'landscapes'

Toowoomba/Southern Downs local government area

Area of cotton landscape:
494,800 ha

Area of cotton properties:
146,400 ha

Area of remnant vegetation in the cotton landscape:
64,000 ha (13%)

Area of remnant vegetation on cotton properties:
5,220 ha (4%)

Area of threatened ecological communities in the cotton landscape:
9,520 ha (15%)

Area of threatened ecological communities on cotton properties:
1,050 ha (20%)

Area of priority zones for native vegetation restoration and enhancement:
2,020 ha

Area of priority zones for vegetation:
9,800 ha


Main vegetation types on cotton properties:

Silver-leaved Ironbark woodlands, Poplar Box woodlands, Forest Red Gum woodlands, Narrow-leaved Ironbark woodlands.

Main threatened ecological communities on cotton properties:

Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla dominant and co-dominant) (E).
Coolibah-Black Box woodland of the Brigalow Belt South and Darling Riverine Plains bioregions (E).


Named wetlands in the cotton landscape:

Glenlyon Lake, Severn River Storage.

Area of wetlands in the cotton landscape:
20,500 ha (4%)

Area of wetlands in the cotton properties:
8,730 ha (6%)

Length of major rivers in the cotton landscape:
455 km

Length of major rivers on cotton properties:
238 km

Length of minor water courses in the cotton landscape:
1629 km

Length of minor streams on cotton properties:
370 km

Main rivers in the cotton landscape:

Condamine River, Condamine River (North Branch), Dumaresq River, Severn River, Dalrymple Creek, Glengallan Creek, Hodgson Creek, Myall Creek, Oakey Creek, Pike Creek, Sandy Creek.


Area of national park in the cotton landscape:
85 ha

Area of state forests in the cotton landscape:
7,379 ha

Area of travelling stock routes in the cotton landscape:
2,114 ha

Examples of public land reserves in the cotton landscape:

Kumbarilla State Forest, Western Creek State Forest.


Examples of iconic species in the cotton landscape:

Animals: Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby, Common Brushtail Possum, Duck-billed Platypus, Koala, Northern Quoll, Spotted-tailed Quoll, Magpie Goose, Tawny Frogmouth, Carpet Python, Eastern Blue-tongue Lizard, Yellow-belly, Redclaw Crayfish.

Plants: Ooline.

Examples of threatened species in the cotton landscape:

Animals: Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (V), Greater Glider (V), Grey-headed Flying-fox (V), Koala (V), New Holland Mouse (V), Northern Quoll (E), Spotted-tailed Quoll (E), Australian Painted Snipe (E), Black-breasted Button-quail (V), Double-banded Plover (M), Marsh Sandpiper (M), Powerful Owl (N,Q), Regent Honeyeater (CE), Swift Parrot (CE), Squatter Pigeon (V), White-winged Black Tern (M), Grey Snake (Q), Adorned Delma (V), Condamine Earless Dragon (E), Five-clawed Worm-skink (V), Australian Lungfish (V).

Plants: Austral Cornflower (V), Bluegrass (V), King Bluegrass (E), Northern Clematis (V), Mt Berryman Phebalium (CE), Tara Wattle (V), Velvet Wattle (V), Cymbonotus maidenii (E), Macrozamia conferta (V ), Macrozamia occidua (V), Solanum papaverifolium (E).

View Toowoomba/Southern Downs management actions