Close your eyes and think of the most wonderful places you've seen in Australia. A coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef?
Key Biodiversity Areas within 100km of
HOBART Visitor Guide Close your eyes and think of the most wonderful places you’ve seen in Australia. A coral cay in the Great Barrier Reef? The raw and rugged beauty of Cradle Mountain? The Ubirr escarpment casting a long shadow over the floodplains of Kakadu at sunrise? The vivid natural palette of Shark Bay? The chances are that wherever it is that you’ve thought of, it’s a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). KBAs are those wonderful natural places with irreplaceable values that make them special. But they’re not just special to us—they’re also special to a whole host of birds and other wildlife. And they’re not all in such far-flung places. In fact, they’re closer than you think— there are plenty of these unique places right on Hobart’s doorstep. When it comes to wildlife-watching, Hobart is a great place to be, surrounded by bushland, wetlands and shores where a bevy of wildlife abounds. What you may not know is that Hobart is nestled between numerous KBAs that are internationally important sites for wildlife.
In fact, Hobart is surrounded by a massive KBA that extends from Orford in the north to Recherche Bay in the south and includes the Tasman Peninsula. The South-east Tasmania KBA is of international importance for so much of Tasmania’s birdlife, including every one of the birds that occur on the Apple Isle and nowhere else—Green Rosella, Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Black-headed Honeyeater, Strong-billed Honeyeater, Yellow Wattlebird, Forty-spotted Pardalote, Scrubtit, Tasmanian Native-hen, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Tasmanian Thornbill, Black Currawong and Dusky Robin. It’s also where you can see the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot. If you prefer islands, the Maria Island KBA, north-east of Hobart, and Bruny Island KBA (south of Hobart) are just a ferry ride away. As well as being home to all the Tasmanian endemics as well as Swift Parrots, Bruny Island KBA is also important for breeding Pied Oystercatchers, while Maria Island KBA is also a hotspot for robins of all colours—Flame, Pink, Dusky and Scarlet. Hobart’s KBAs offer so many opportunities for everyone to experience the wonders of nature.
Bird Photos: Green Rosella (Ian Wilson); Yellow-throated Honeyeater, Yellow Wattlebird, Forty-spotted Pardalote, Tasmanian Native-hen, Tasmanian Scrubwren, Pied Oystercatcher (Andrew Silcocks)
Photo: Cloudy Bay, Bruny Island (Shutterstock)
Photo: Pied Oystercatcher by Andrew Silcocks
GR E
E N
YEL LO YELL OW
TARRALEAH
ED
RTY-SPOT T FO
VE TI
T
D PAR ALOT E
HOBART
M A NI A N N A AS
N SCRUBW IA
R EN
TASM A
-HEN
N
GEEVESTON
PIED OYSTE
KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS WITHIN 100KM OF HOBART RC
HE ATC R
Ben Lomond
Egg Island Estuary
Mewstone
Betsey Island
Hippolyte Rocks
Moulting Lagoon
Bruny Island
Maatsuyker Islands Group
South Arm
Cradle Mountain
Maria Island
South-east Tasmania
Douglas Apsley
Marion Bay
Tasman Island
KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS
YEATER NE O
ATTLEBIRD W
CAMPBELL TOWN
NATURE’S HOTSPOTS
SE LL A RO
ROATED -TH H W
Melaleuca to Birches Inlet
For more information contact BirdLife Australia
[email protected] birdlife.org.au
AUSTRALIA
