An incredibly unique and largely intact coastal lagoon system

The Noosa River catchment encompasses an area of 854sqkm.  The unusually low-lying headwaters of the Noosa River are located on the Como escarpment, deep in the pristine Great Sandy National Park, charged continuously by fresh water springs draining sand deposits.   From there, the river flows generally north to south, fed by over 1,505km of streams, creeks and tributaries that drain six distinct sub-catchments featuring 27 broad vegetation groups including rainforests and scrubs, eucalyptus and melaleuca woodlands, heathlands, wetlands, mangroves and saltmarsh.

The catchment extends through an extensive, shallow and largely unmodified  system of freshwater, brackish and saline (tidal) lakes, marshes, heathlands and estuary and drains to the Noosa river mouth 60km to the south.  Located at the intersection of the Macleay-McPherson overlap, the catchment supports incredibly high biodiversity including 61 different regional ecosystems, 1,340 plant species, almost 350 terrestrial vertebrate animals and 217 species of birds including half of all known migratory shorebirds.

Almost one-third of the catchment is protected within the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park. The catchment also includes two nationally significant wetland areas (Noosa River Wetlands and Lake Weyba) and almost 6,000 hectares of protected fish habitat.  The catchment is home to over 30,000 residents located mostly in contiguous urban south of the catchment and rural hinterland villages.  The catchment forms part of the UNESCO-designated Noosa Biosphere Reserve.  The Noosa River is consistently rated amongst Queensland’s healthiest.