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Queensland Government
WetlandInfo   —   Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

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Local government areas

Whitsunday local government area

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Name: Whitsunday
Area type: Local government area
Total area: 2,383,133 ha
(excluding marine area)
% total Qld: 1.4%

Area homepage: www.whitsunday.qld.gov.au

Page table of contents
Catchment stories
Wetland observations
Wetland extents
Wetland extent changes
Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC)
Drainage divisions
Drainage basins
Drainage sub-basins
Regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies
100K map tiles
Climate zones
Bioregions
Biogeographic subregions
IBRA bioregions
IBRA subregions
Bioregional assessment areas
Marine meso-scale bioregions
Marine provincial bioregions
Regional plans
World Heritage areas
Ramsar internationally important wetlands
DIWA nationally important wetlands
National parks
Marine parks (Queensland)
Study areas
Report cards
Conservation parks
State forests
Forest reserves
Resources reserves
Timber reserves
Fish habitat areas
Coastal management district
Nature refuges
Freshwater biogeographic provinces
Aquatic Conservation Assessments (AquaBAMM) and others
Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—conceptual models
Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—management profiles
Groundwater dependent ecosystem type—conceptual models
Healthy Land and Water conceptual models
Water resource planning areas
Aquatic ecosystem monitoring programs
Point source monitoring
Wetland soil indicator case studies
Wetland management case studies
Wetland projects
Area specific conceptual model case studies
Paddock to Reef (P2R) report cards
Water Quality Improvement Plan catchments
EPP (Water) scheduled environmental values and water quality objectives
Shorebird zones
Biopassage structures
Related legislation/policies
External links/description
Wildlife

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Catchment stories info

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Wetland observations

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Wetland extents info metadata

Based on wetland mapping version 6.0

Display areas in

Whitsunday local government area wetland area by system 2019
System Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 120,690 100.0% 5.1%
Total excluding riverine and artificial/highly modified riverine 62,918 52.1% 2.6%
Artificial and highly modified 21,836 18.1% 0.9%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 25,736 21.3% 1.1%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 1,761 1.5% 0.1%
Lacustrine (natural) 14 0.0% 0.0%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 791 0.7% 0.0%
Palustrine (natural) 8,416 7.0% 0.4%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 4,365 3.6% 0.2%
Riverine 57,771 47.9% 2.4%

View wetland system extents for all local government areas

Whitsunday local government area wetland area by habitat 2019
Habitat Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 33,236 100.0% 1.4%
Mangroves - Casuarina 0 0.0% 0.0%
Mangroves - other 15,965 48.0% 0.7%
Salt marsh and salt flats 4,469 13.4% 0.2%
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain lake 38 0.1% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain rock lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (window) lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 474 1.4% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 12 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 222 0.7% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain swamp 107 0.3% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid Great Artesian Basin fed spring swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 1,461 4.4% 0.1%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 2,670 8.0% 0.1%
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 2 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 1,243 3.7% 0.1%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 5,830 17.5% 0.2%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal other floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal tree (palm) swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 211 0.6% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 533 1.6% 0.0%

View wetland habitat area for all local government areas

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

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Wetland extent changes

Whitsunday local government area wetland extent change by system
System 2019 area
(ha)		 2017 area
(ha)		 2013 area
(ha)		 2009 area
(ha)		 2005 area
(ha)		 2001 area
(ha)		 pre-clear area
(ha)		 2019/pre-clear
percentage
Total 120,690 120,737 120,451 120,320 119,733 119,429 107,309 * 92.1%
Artificial and highly modified 21,836 21,808 21,449 21,225 20,565 20,065 0 n/a
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 25,736 25,735 25,733 25,735 25,731 25,741 29,716 86.6%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 1,761 1,761 1,761 1,761 1,761 1,761 0 n/a
Lacustrine (natural) 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 98.5%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 791 790 790 790 788 793 0 n/a
Palustrine (natural) 8,416 8,415 8,424 8,499 8,496 8,538 17,084 49.3%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 4,365 4,385 4,385 4,278 4,271 4,267 0 n/a
Riverine 57,771 57,828 57,895 58,019 58,107 58,250 60,495 95.5%

* Total 2019/pre-clear percentage excludes artificial and highly modified

metadata View 2019 wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View 2017 wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View 2013 wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View 2009 wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View 2005 wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View 2001 wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View pre-clear wetland system extents for all local government areas

metadata View 2019/pre-clear wetland system extent percentages for all local government areas

Whitsunday local government area wetland extent change by habitat
Habitat 2019 area
(ha)		 2017 area
(ha)		 2013 area
(ha)		 2009 area
(ha)		 2005 area
(ha)		 2001 area
(ha)
Total 33,236 33,234 33,240 33,211 33,196 33,245
Mangroves - Casuarina 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mangroves - other 15,965 15,965 15,961 15,963 15,945 15,956
Salt marsh and salt flats 4,469 4,468 4,470 4,470 4,484 4,483
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain lake 38 38 38 38 38 38
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain rock lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (window) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 474 474 475 475 475 475
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 12 12 12 12 12 12
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 222 222 222 222 222 222
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain swamp 107 107 107 107 107 107
Arid and semi-arid Great Artesian Basin fed spring swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 1,461 1,477 1,485 1,517 1,508 1,532
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 2,670 2,651 2,651 2,651 2,647 2,648
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 2 2 2 2 2 2
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 1,243 1,243 1,244 1,244 1,250 1,251
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 5,830 5,830 5,830 5,818 5,815 5,818
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal other floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal tree (palm) swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 211 211 211 214 214 214
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 533 533 533 479 479 489

metadata View 2019 wetland habitat area for all local government areas

metadata View 2017 wetland habitat area for all local government areas

metadata View 2013 wetland habitat area for all local government areas

metadata View 2009 wetland habitat area for all local government areas

metadata View 2005 wetland habitat area for all local government areas

metadata View 2001 wetland habitat area for all local government areas

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

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Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC) metadata

Whitsunday local government area land use
ALUMC code and description
Area (ha)
% total area
Total 2,384,408 100.1%
2.1 Grazing native vegetation 2,022,646 84.9%
1.1 Nature conservation 83,569 3.5%
1.3 Other minimal use 64,061 2.7%
6.5 Marsh/wetland 54,861 2.3%
1.2 Managed resource protection 35,478 1.5%
4.3 Irrigated cropping 26,397 1.1%
2.2 Production native forests 24,663 1.0%
6.2 Reservoir/dam 21,432 0.9%
6.3 River 13,196 0.6%
4.5 Irrigated seasonal horticulture 11,008 0.5%
5.4 Residential and farm infrastructure 10,397 0.4%
5.8 Mining 8,085 0.3%
5.7 Transport and communication 2,466 0.1%
5.5 Services 1,806 0.1%
4.4 Irrigated perennial horticulture 1,133 0.0%
3.6 Land in transition 488 0.0%
5.2 Intensive animal production 462 0.0%
5.3 Manufacturing and industrial 427 0.0%
4.6 Irrigated land in transition 412 0.0%
6.1 Lake 325 0.0%
3.3 Cropping 281 0.0%
4.2 Grazing irrigated modified pastures 237 0.0%
3.2 Grazing modified pastures 145 0.0%
3.4 Perennial horticulture 109 0.0%
5.9 Waste treatment and disposal 104 0.0%
6.6 Estuary/coastal waters 83 0.0%
5.6 Utilities 78 0.0%
5.1 Intensive horticulture 39 0.0%
6.4 Channel/aqueduct 11 0.0%
3.1 Plantation forests 5 0.0%

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Drainage divisions info metadata

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Drainage basins info metadata

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Drainage sub-basins info metadata

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Regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies info metadata

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100K map tiles info metadata

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Climate zones info metadata

  • map Grassland
  • map Subtropical
  • map Tropical

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Bioregions info metadata

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Biogeographic subregions info metadata

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IBRA bioregions info metadata

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IBRA subregions info metadata

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Bioregional assessment areas info metadata

none

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Marine meso-scale bioregions metadata

  • map Lucinda-Mackay Coast (LMC)
  • map Mackay-Capricorn (MC)
  • map Pompey-Swains (PS)

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Marine provincial bioregions metadata

  • map Northeast Shelf Province

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Regional plans info metadata

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World Heritage areas info metadata

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Ramsar internationally important wetlands info metadata

none

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DIWA nationally important wetlands info metadata

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National parks info metadata

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Marine parks (Queensland) info metadata

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Study areas metadata

none

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Report cards metadata

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Conservation parks info metadata

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State forests info metadata

  • map Andromache State Forest
  • map Cathu State Forest
  • map Dryander State Forest
  • map Macartney State Forest
  • map Proserpine State Forest
  • map Sonoma State Forest

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Forest reserves info metadata

none

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Resources reserves info metadata

none

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Timber reserves info metadata

none

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Fish habitat areas info metadata

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Coastal management district info metadata

  • map Available (all have been combined since February 2012)

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Nature refuges info metadata

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Freshwater biogeographic provinces info metadata

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Aquatic Conservation Assessments (AquaBAMM) and others info metadata

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Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—conceptual models info metadata

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Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—management profiles info metadata

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Groundwater dependent ecosystem type—conceptual models info metadata

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Healthy Land and Water conceptual models info metadata

none

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Water resource planning areas info metadata

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Aquatic ecosystem monitoring programs info metadata

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Point source monitoring info metadata

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Wetland soil indicator case studies info metadata

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Wetland management case studies info metadata

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Wetland projects info metadata

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Area specific conceptual model case studies info metadata

none

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Paddock to Reef (P2R) report cards info metadata

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Water Quality Improvement Plan catchments info metadata

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EPP (Water) scheduled environmental values and water quality objectives info metadata

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Shorebird zones info metadata

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Biopassage structures info metadata

Name Construction year Structure types Stream name
map Biggs Road 2010 Rock Ramp Proserpine River
map Bowen River Weir 2010 Mechanical Bowen River
map Collinvale Rd 2012 Culvert Gregory River
map Gregory Weir 2009 Pool and Weir Gregory River
map Lethe Brook 2007 Rock Ramp Lethebrrook Creek
map Old Bowen Road 2016 Rock Ramp Black Rock Creek
map Tondarra Road 2009 Rock Ramp Bogie River
map Upper Gregory 2010 Rock Ramp Gregory River

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Wildlife

Kingdom
Class
 Native Introduced Wetland
indicator
species		 Rare or
threatened
species		 All
TOTAL 3,268 404 380 82 3,672
Animals 812 40 196 49 852
Mammals 110 17 8 13 127
Birds 386 10 86 28 396
Reptiles 154 1 12 7 155
Amphibians 31 1 15 0 32
Ray-finned fishes 50 5 55 0 55
Cartilaginous fishes 4 0 4 1 4
Insects 73 6 16 0 79
Malacostracans 3 0 0 0 3
Arachnids 1 0 0 0 1
Bacteria 7 0 0 0 7
Chromists 32 0 0 0 32
Fungi 55 0 0 0 55
Plants 2,362 364 184 33 2,726

Note: Wildlife statistics are based on information that has been submitted to the DETSI WildNet database and converted to a 10km² grid. The grid information has been intersected with the mapping polygons to determine the species lists. Click here to view the species grid metadata.

Information from WildNet can also be accessed via Wildlife Online and WetlandMaps.

Rare or threatened includes species listed as extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or conservation dependent under either the Nature Conservation Act or Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

Disclaimer: While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this product, the Queensland Government and Australian Government make no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and disclaim all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages (including indirect or consequential damage) and costs which might be incurred as a consequence of reliance on the product, or as a result of the product being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason.

AreaType-lga

This page should be cited as:

Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2013) Whitsunday local government area — facts and maps, WetlandInfo website, accessed 16 April 2025. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/lga-whitsunday/

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