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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:
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.
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