Flora & fauna database

Mistletoe bird sitting on a branch

The Gold Coast has an amazing variety of plant and animal life. Our easy-to-use florafauna.goldcoast.qld.gov.au website lists the known plants and animals in our region.

This resource helps residents, students, conservationists, developers and planners learn more about the plants and animals on the Gold Coast. The website features:

  • a searchable database with detailed information, including description and legal status (e.g. threatened)
  • images to help identify species
  • references to useful reports and studies.

How to use the website

To get started, head to the website's Species information page. Here you can choose to:

  • search the website's database for a specific plant or animal
  • browse or download full lists of species recorded on the Gold Coast.

You can search for a plant or animal in several ways:

  • its common name – for example, 'koala'
  • its scientific name – for example, Phascolarctos cinereus
  • selecting wider terms such as 'All', 'Fauna' (animals) or 'Flora' (plants) and then narrowing down your search.

The site will return a list of possible matches.

Flora & fauna database

Other resources you may find useful are our native plants and native animals pages. Find out what you can do to help protect them in My backyard.

Developers, local landholders and conservation groups

This website is part of our ongoing commitment to conserve our biodiversity and natural assets. By providing accurate data, we can help inform decision-making, give certain species special consideration and ensure future development is ecologically sustainable.

The information on the website will be essential for those planning work and activities related to, or that may impact on, native plants and animals.

The site provides information and tools to:

  • establish what plants or animals are native to, and are recorded in, a particular area
  • identify a specific plant or animal species
  • understand the habitats and extent of species on the Gold Coast
  • find out more information about particular species.

The website can help developers identify and assess environmental impact and ecological sustainability issues. Landowners and conservation groups will find the site useful for identifying which species are native to and/or established in a specific locality.

Our Natural City Strategy

We recognise that our native wildlife and natural environments are among our most critical assets, essential to the future social, economic and environmental sustainability of the Gold Coast. Our Natural City Strategy helps to guide this work.

Image: Mistletoe bird © Todd Burrows