Bioregional_Assessment_Programme_Catchment Scale Land Use of Australia - 2014

## **Abstract** 

This dataset and its metadata statement were supplied to the Bioregional Assessment Programme by a third party and are presented here as originally supplied.



This dataset is the most current national compilation of catchment scale land use data for Australia (CLUM), as at March 2014. It is a seamless raster dataset that combines land use data for all state and territory jurisdictions, compiled at a resolution of 50 metres by 50 metres. It has been compiled from vector land use datasets collected as part of state and territory mapping programs through the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP). Catchment scale land use data was produced by combining land tenure and other types of land use information, fine-scale satellite data and information collected in the field. The date of mapping (1997 to 2012) and scale of mapping (1:25 000 to 1:250 000) vary, reflecting the source data capture date and scale. This information is provided in a supporting polygon dataset.



The CLUM data shows a single dominant land use for a given area, based on the primary management objective of the land manager (as identified by state and territory agencies). Land use is classified according to the Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) Classification version 7, a three-tiered hierarchical structure. There are five primary classes, identified in order of increasing levels of intervention or potential impact on the natural landscape. Water is included separately as a sixth primary class. Primary and secondary levels relate to the principal land use. Tertiary classes may include additional information on commodity groups, specific commodities, land management practices or vegetation information. The primary, secondary and tertiary codes work together to provide increasing levels of detail about the land use. Land may be subject to a number of concurrent land uses. For example, while the main management objective of a multiple-use production forest may be timber production, it may also provide conservation, recreation, grazing and water catchment land uses. In these cases, production forestry is commonly identified in the ALUM code as the prime land use.



The operational scales of catchment scale mapping vary according to the intensity of land use activities and landscape context. Scales range from 1:10 000 and 1:25 000 for irrigated and peri-urban areas, to 1:100 000 for broadacre cropping regions and 1:250 000 for the semi-arid and arid pastoral zone. The date of mapping generally reflects the intensity of land use. The most current mapping occurs in intensive agricultural areas; older mapping generally occurs in the semi-arid and pastoral zones.The primary classes of land use in the ALUM Classification are: 



Conservation and natural environments-land used primarily for conservation purposes, based on maintaining the essentially natural ecosystems present; 

Production from relatively natural environments-land used mainly for primary production with limited change to the native vegetation; 

Production from dryland agriculture and plantations-land used mainly for primary production based on dryland farming systems; 

Production from irrigated agriculture and plantations-land used mostly for primary production based on irrigated farming;

Intensive uses-land subject to extensive modification, generally in association with closer residential settlement, commercial or industrial uses;

Water-water features (water is regarded as an essential aspect of the classification, even though it is primarily a land cover type, not a land use).

The following areas have been updated since the November 2012 release: the entire state of Victoria; Queensland natural resource management regions Border Rivers-Maranoa, Condamine, South East Queensland (part), and South West Queensland.

## **Purpose** 

Land use information is critical to developing sustainable long-term solutions for natural resource management, and is used to underpin investment decisions. Users include local government, catchment authorities, emergency services, quarantine and pest management authorities, industry and community groups. Landscape processes involving soils and water generally operate at catchment scale. Land use information at catchment scale therefore has an important role to play in developing effective solutions to Australia's natural resource management issues.

## **Dataset History** 

Lineage:

ABARES has produced this raster dataset from vector catchment scale land use data provided by state and territory agencies, as follows: Land Use: New South Wales (2009); Land Use Mapping of the Northern Territory 2008 (LUMP 2008); Land use mapping - Queensland current (January 2014); Land Use South Australia 2008; Tasmanian Summer 2009/2010 Land Use; Victorian Land Use Information System (VLUIS) 2010 version 4; Land Use in Western Australia, Version 5, (1997); and, Land Use in Western Australia, v7 (2008). Links to land use mapping datasets and metadata are available at the ACLUMP data download page at http://www.daff.gov.au/abares/aclump/pages/land-use/data-download.aspx State and territory vector catchment scale land use data were produced by combining land tenure and other types of land use information, fine-scale satellite data and information collected in the field, as outlined in the document 'Guidelines for land use mapping in Australia: principles, procedures and definitions, Edition 4'. Specifically, the attributes adhere to the ALUM classification, version 7. For Victoria, ABARES converted the VLUIS vector data to the ALUM classification, based on an agreed method using Valuer General Victoria land use codes, land cover and land tenure information. This method has been updated since the previous release. All contributing polygon datasets were gridded by ABARES on the ALUM code and mosaiced to minimise resampling errors. NODATA voids in Sydney, Adelaide and parts of the Australian Capital Territory were filled with Australian Bureau of Statistics Mesh blocks land use attributes with modifications based on: 1:250 000 scale topographic data for built up areas from GEODATA TOPO 250K Series 3 (Geoscience Australia 2006); land tenure data from Tenure of Australia's Forests (ABARES 2008); and, native and plantation forest data from Forests of Australia (ABARES 2008). All other NODATA voids were filled using data from Land Use of Australia, Version 4, 2005/2006 (ABARES 2010).



Land use mapped should be regarded as a REPRESENTATION of land use only. The CLUM data shows a single dominant land use for each area mapped, even if multiple land uses occur within that area. The CLUM data is produced from datasets compiled for various dates from 1997 to 2012. The CLUM data is produced from datasets compiled at various scales from 1:25 000 to 1:2 500 000

## **Dataset Citation** 

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (2014) Bioregional_Assessment_Programme_Catchment Scale Land Use of Australia - 2014. Bioregional Assessment Source Dataset. Viewed 13 March 2019, http://data.bioregionalassessments.gov.au/dataset/6f72f73c-8a61-4ae9-b8b5-3f67ec918826.

Tags: Australia, Clarence-Moreton bioregion, Cooper subregion, Gippsland Basin bioregion, Gloucester subregion, Hunter subregion, Maranoa-Balonne-Condamine subregion, Namoi subregion, Sydney Basin bioregion, imageryBaseMapsEarthCover
Organization: Bioregional Assessment Program