Native plants

Council encourages residents to keep native vegetation on their property. The advantages of using local native plants includes:

  • native plants are resilient and adapted to local environmental conditions
  • native plants are less likely to become weeds
  • native plants provide local landscape character
  • native plants provide potential food and habitat for local native animals.

Regional ecosystems

Regional Ecosystems (REs) are vegetation communities that are associated with a particular combination of geology, land form and soil. The RE classification system was developed by the Queensland Herbarium and is used by Council as a standard for describing vegetation communities found throughout the region.

Regional Ecosystem ImageEach RE is classified by a three number code (e.g. 12.3.11). The first number of the code is the bioregion. Queensland is divided into 13 different bioregions, which are based on broad landscape patterns and reflect the major differences in geology, climate, plants and animals found across the state.

South East Queensland is bioregion 12; therefore all REs in the Moreton Bay Region begin with 12. The second number is the land form, denoting the type of geology. The third number represents the particular vegetation community.

Plant species lists for the 23 most common Regional Ecosystems found in the region assist residents in planning revegetation or restoration work. Each list contains the common species found in that RE as well as a map showing local parks where each RE can be found. Further information can be obtained from the Department of Environment and Science, including free property reports and Regional Ecosystem mapping.

Sourcing native plants

Local native plants are available for sale from community nurseries for gardens, landscaping and revegetation projects.

There are five Council supported community nurseries that supply local native plants to the public, see community plant nurseries for more information.

If you are planning a revegetation project or would like to know more about regional ecosystems on your property, contact Council.