Precise. Comprehensive. Built to satisfy regulatory requirements.
Western Australia is one of the most botanically diverse regions on earth, home to an extraordinary number of endemic plant species, threatened ecological communities and vegetation complexes found nowhere else. For developers, miners, infrastructure builders and land managers working in WA, that biodiversity creates both regulatory obligations and project risk. A botanical survey that misses a threatened species or fails to accurately characterise a vegetation community can delay a project, trigger additional assessment requirements or jeopardise an approval. Our botanists plan each survey around the flowering season and the EPA's technical guidance for flora and vegetation surveys.
We conduct botanical surveys and flora assessments for developers, miners, exploration companies, infrastructure builders, local governments and private landowners across WA and the NT. Our survey reports meet the requirements of the EPA, DWER, local government and the EPBC Act, and stand up to the scrutiny of regulators and peer reviewers alike. Our botanists bring specialist expertise across WA's diverse bioregions, from the Kwongan heathlands and Jarrah forests of the southwest to the Pilbara's spinifex grasslands, the Kimberley's tropical savannas and the mulga woodlands of the interior.
Our botanical survey services cover the full scope of what your project may require. Reconnaissance surveys provide a rapid, cost-effective baseline assessment of vegetation communities and flora composition. Detailed botanical surveys provide a comprehensive, quantitative assessment of flora composition, vegetation condition, species diversity and the presence of declared rare flora, Priority Flora listed on the DBCA Priority Flora List, and threatened ecological communities listed under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WA) and the EPBC Act 1999.
Where the potential presence of specific threatened or Priority Flora species needs to be confirmed or ruled out before project decisions are made, our botanists conduct targeted flora surveys. Each is designed around the specific habitat requirements, phenology and detection methods for the target species, and timed to maximise detection probability. Targeted flora surveys are among the most consequential assessments in the environmental approvals process, and our botanists have the specialist knowledge to conduct them to the standard that regulators expect.
Our weed mapping services provide a comprehensive spatial assessment of invasive plant species across project areas, integrating on-ground survey data with GIS analysis to produce detailed maps showing the location, identity, density and extent of weed infestations. Weed mapping is essential for mine site rehabilitation planning, vegetation management programmes, environmental management plans and land management strategies, and our outputs are delivered in GIS formats compatible with client data systems.
We also conduct vegetation condition assessments, flora monitoring programmes for ongoing compliance and rehabilitation tracking, and vegetation clearing assessments to support development applications and clearing permit requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA).
Trace Ecology is a division of Trace Enterprises, which brings heritage, environmental and planning specialists together under one roof.
Recent flora work includes detailed flora and vegetation assessments along a 1,200 km corridor, a ranger-led flora survey near Sir Samuel, a baseline flora study at Kathleen Valley and an invasive flora assessment at Bells Rapids, plus a tree health and risk assessment across metropolitan Perth.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a flora survey before clearing native vegetation?
In most cases, yes. Clearing native vegetation in WA needs a permit under Part V of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 unless an exemption applies, and the assessment looks at the flora values affected. A flora and vegetation survey provides that evidence and shows whether threatened or priority flora, or threatened ecological communities, could change the approval pathway.
What is the difference between a reconnaissance and a detailed flora survey?
A reconnaissance survey gives a rapid baseline of vegetation communities and flora composition. A detailed survey adds a quantitative assessment of composition, condition and diversity, and records threatened and priority flora. Where a particular species needs to be confirmed or ruled out, a targeted survey is timed around that species' flowering or detection period.
When is the best time for a flora survey?
Most plants are easiest to find and identify when flowering, so surveys are timed to the main flowering season for the bioregion, often spring in the south-west and after rain in the arid zone. We plan survey timing at the start of a project so it doesn't hold up approvals.
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Every heritage, environmental and planning project starts with the right conversation.
Tell us what you are planning and where. We'll tell you what assessments and approvals it needs, who should be involved and what happens next.