The Catchment
Ellenborough Falls
Both the Hastings (including the Wilson) and the Camden Haven are relatively small catchments. The Hastings River flows out of Wilderness on the eastern escarpment of the Great Dividing Range and meets the Pacific Ocean at Port Macquarie. The catchment is bordered to the north by the Banda Banda Plateau and Maria River State Forest and to the south by the Bulga Plateau and Broken Bago Range. The Camden Haven catchment is bordered to the north by the Broken Bago Range and the Comboyne Plateau in the south and meets the sea at Laurieton.
The catchments have around 70% native vegetation cover, mainly within State Forest and National Park. The area from the coast to about 20km inland is the area experiencing the most pressure associated with rapid population growth.
Significant habitat, including endangered ecological communities, still occurs within the largest urban centre, Port Macquarie.
Major threats to the environmental integrity of this area include vegetation and habitat loss, environmental weed incursion, feral animals and acid sulphate soils on the coastal plain. Water quality and streambank stability are major issues that have received some attention through programs such as the voluntary streamcare grant scheme and significant investment by Council in recent years. Improving the quality of water entering the system from agricultural lands remains a focus of Landcare, Council and the NRCMA.
Wauchope