Bushland

In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure.[1]

Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving around it, with the stories of Aboriginal trackers and bushrangers deeply entrenched in Australian folklore. Bushland has been a traditional source of wood for fuel and bushfood.[2]

Bushland provides a number of ecosystem services including the protection of water quality, stopping erosion, acting as a windbreak, and trapping nutrients.[3] Bushland is prone to bushfires. This presents a challenge to authorities as infrastructure and habitations encroach into bushland areas.[4]

Until recently Australia had a very high rate of land clearing, which resulted in the destruction of bushland.[5] Since 2006 the rate of land clearing has declined significantly. This is partially attributed to legislation that placed a ban on broad scale clearing of mature bushland in Queensland in 2006 and an expansion of those bans to regrowing bushland with a high conservation value in 2009.[6] In New South Wales bushfires cause the greatest destruction of bushland, followed by land clearing for crops, grazing, road and buildings.[7]

Bushland preservation has become the focus of some conservation efforts. In Brisbane, the Brisbane City Council has established a Bushland Acquisition Program, which is funded by a small levy paid by rate-payers.[8] The program began in 1990 and aims to protect koala habitat from urban development.[9] It is estimated that the koala population in the area had declined from 6,240 in 1996 to 1,500 in 2012.[10]