Cumberland Plain vegetation mapping project

The broad, shallow basin of Sydney's Cumberland Plain stretches west from Parramatta to the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, and from Windsor in the north to Thirlmere in the south. The Cumberland Plain contains some of the most fertile country in the Sydney Basin, which has made it a focus for agriculture. This, combined with more recent urban development, has largely cleared the area of native vegetation.

As a result of the extreme pressure that has been placed on the Cumberland Plain, many of its ecological communities have been listed as endangered. OEH is required to prepare a recovery plan for each of these communities.

In order to develop these plans, the NPWS (which is part of OEH) developed a comprehensive information base describing the characteristics, distribution and condition of the endangered ecological communities. This vegetation mapping project took place from 1997-2002.

Endangered ecological communities mapped in this project
Get detailed information on the Cumberland Plain's endangered communities.

Extent of the study area
See a map showing the local government areas that were covered by the project.

How the mapping took place
Learn about the stages in creating the vegetation data layer.

Get hold of maps, data and reports
Download maps and interpretation guidelines, and get an order form to buy Geographic Information System (GIS) data from the project.

Cumberland Plain Recovery plan
This recovery plan has been designed to provide for the long-term survival and protection of the threatened biodiversity of the Cumberland Plain as the area develops.