Native Vegetation And Bushland of Ryde

Ryde is the home of six complex indigenous plant communities that used to make up the bushland prior to European settlement. 

These plant communities are:

• Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest,
• Blue Gum High Forest,
• Shale / Sandstone Transition Forest,
• Sydney Sandstone Gully Forest,
• Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland , and the
• Estuarine Complex.

They have evolved in response to the natural ecological processes of the region and the influences of its underlying geology, soil, climatic conditions, drainage patterns, and the activities of animals and people. Plant communities and species have adapted to these conditions over thousands of years and are now finely tuned to and dependent on local landform, soils, moisture and nutrient levels, frequency of fires, floods and droughts that naturally occurred in the Ryde area. 

Before the arrival of British soldiers and settlers on the Australian continent, when Ryde was still inhabited and managed by its   Aboriginal people, the land was covered in majestic eucalyptus forests and woodlands with large trees and a diverse, dense understorey, some of it unique rain forest understorey. During 200 years of European agricultural and urban development, most  bushland was cleared to make way for farming, housing and industry. Today, only a few remnants of the former bushland remain  on inaccessible steep slopes and in gullies along natural drainage lines and the Lane Cove River where opportunities for European development were limited. 

As a result of the extensive land clearing, three of the local indigenous plant communities in Ryde are now on the brink of  extinction. They are Turpentine-Ironbark Forest, Blue Gum High Forest, and Shale / Sandstone Transition Forest. They are  considered endangered and inadequately conserved at the National level and are listed as in danger of becoming extinct under  the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act). This makes the remnant vegetation of Ryde highly significant and in need of adequate protection and appropriate conservation oriented management.

The largest and/or most significant bushland remnants in the Ryde LGA can be found in the following public areas:

• Lane Cove River National Park,
• Field of Mars Wildlife Reserve,
• Wallumatta Nature Reserve,
• Glades Bay Park,
• Darvall Park,
• Denistone Park,
• Pembroke Park,
• Stewart Park, and
• Brush Farm Park

This information is from the Urban Bushland in the Ryde LGA (PDF 1529KB) report.