NSW Habitat Intactness Index: Annual Statewide Estimates from 2017

The NSW Habitat Intactness Index is a geospatial raster dataset estimating terrestrial habitat condition relative to a natural state. It is produced by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, with annual layers available starting from 2017. The index values range from 0.0 for completely removed habitat to 1.0 for relatively intact habitat.

Use Cases

• Assessing ecological condition of terrestrial habitats based on the index values.
• Monitoring changes in habitat intactness over time using the annual time series from 2017.
• Informing biodiversity conservation planning based on spatial patterns of habitat intactness.
• Supporting ecosystem resilience and integrity analysis based on the index's connection to biodiversity persistence.

Strengths

• Provides a near-complete statewide estimate of habitat intactness for New South Wales.
• Offers annual temporal coverage from 2017 onward.
• Data is provided as a high-resolution raster with a 90x90 meter pixel size.
• Index values are standardized on a clear scale from 0.0 to 1.0.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The model's reliability varies across space, scales, and environments as noted in the description.

Provenance

Source

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Collection Method

Combines direct measures of remotely sensed vegetation cover with proxy data, synthesized using expert understanding.

Time Range

Annually from 2017, with a two-year time lag for the most recent layer.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-17 19:07:05.536398; freshness should be verified.

Geography

State of New South Wales, Australia.