When the Bird Reports were commenced in 1993, HBOC selected an Area of Interest (the “Hunter Region”) as the focus for the Reports. The core part of it was the land mass nominated in the 1989 Hunter Regional Environmental Plan. HBOC also included ocean to the east of that land mass into its Area of Interest. Readers should note that the land area defined in the 1989 Hunter Regional Environmental Plan is very similar to, but differs somewhat from, the land area managed now by the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority.
The 1989 Hunter Regional Environmental Plan divided the land mass into three sub-regions, which together encompassed 14 local government authorities. Since that time, some of the local authorities in NSW have been amalgamated. For continuity of record keeping, HBOC has largely retained the same Area of Interest as originally chosen. In 2022 the Hunter Region was extended to include the entire Hunter River catchment area, as the Bylong, Wollar, Cumbo and Moolarben valleys were previosuly excluded. The eastern boundary was also extended to the limit of the Australian EEZ. The Hunter Region is best defined as:
• The area managed by local government authorities for Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Cessnock and Port Stephens (the Lower Hunter sub-region);
• The area managed by local government authorities for Dungog and Mid-Coast (Northern Hunter sub-region);
• The area managed by local government authorities for Muswellbrook and Singleton, and formerly managed by local government authorities for Merriwa, Scone and Murrurundi (Upper Hunter sub-region);
• The Goulburn River tributary catchments not included within the above (namely the Bylong, Wollar, Cumbo and Moolarben valleys);
• The ocean to the limit of the Australian EEZ, extending approximately perpendicular to the bathymetric contours.
A map showing the Hunter Region is provided below and can be downloaded by clicking here. A kml file for use in Google Earth is also available upon request.
Another way to see the Region’s boundaries is to log in to Birdata, select Programs and Regions, then select the Hunter Region (window on upper left hand side).
