The Illawarra landscape can be broadly categorised into two geographical subregions - the escarpment with its foothills and the coastal plain. The Illawarra Escarpment has major conservation significance and is regarded as a natural icon of the region. The region’s coastal plain largely supports urban and agricultural land uses, and so has been mostly cleared of native vegetation. The Illawarra region is one of the most diverse in NSW, supporting both high value terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity and over 1260 plant species. The Escarpment contains one of the largest areas of rainforest in the Sydney Basin Bioregion in a belt of rich biodiversity that is recognised as a regionally significant habitat corridor.
Much of the native vegetation communities of the plateau and escarpment are well conserved in a range of public and private lands and will be further enhanced through implementation of the recently adopted Illawarra Escarpment Management Plan (Wollongong City Council, 2005) The Illawarra region and its coastal waters supports at least 95 threatened fauna and flora species, two endangered populations and 15 endangered ecological communities, three of which are the habitat of several nationally-listed plant species under the Commonwealth Government’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Landuse in the Illawarra region comprises rural, residential and industrial activities. In the north of the Region, urban development is mainly restricted to a relatively narrow coastal plain, bounded by the Illawarra Escarpment to the west, and the Tasman Sea to the east. The main urban centre of the Illawarra is Wollongong which is Australia’s ninth largest city. To the south of the Region, agricultural lands around Kiama and parts of Shellharbour have become strategically important for long term food production due to the fertile soils, reliable rainfall patterns and proximity to markets. This land is under threat from urban and rural-residential expansion.
The Illawarra region possesses extensive manufacturing, retail, education, health and community services as well as a major tourism industry. It has gross regional product of $12 billion. Currently there are 281,000 people living in the Illawarra and an expected population increase of 47,600 over the next 25 years. Despite an ageing of the population (the median age is expected to increase from 36 years to 44 years by 2031), the Illawarra population will continue to be one of the youngest in NSW.
To view events taking place in the Illawarra sub-region visit the
events page 
