What is the NSW Neighbourhood Habitat Intactness (NHI) Index?

The NSW Neighbourhood Habitat Intactness (NHI) Index measures the amount and quality of terrestrial habitat connected to each location in NSW weighted by how well connected it is to that location. For a given location, a high NHI value indicates that there is high availability of connected habitat (both quantity and quality) across a range of ecological scales. Such areas are expected to provide resources that support native species to a greater degree than areas with low NHI. The NHI Index is estimated for all locations across New South Wales and can be averaged across a region to provide an estimate of the habitat integrity for that region. The NSW NHI Index is a multi-scale application of the neighbourhood habitat area analysis (See the NSW NHI Index Information Sheet in the 'Data and Resources' section for further details).

How are the data created?

The NSW NHI Index is created using the NSW Habitat Intactness (HI) Index as an input to a neighbourhood habitat area analysis performed across multiple spatial resolutions to generalise the measure across a range of ecological scales and to account for potential spatial biases. Analysis outputs are then combined by averaging across spatial scales. The NSW HI Index combines direct measures of remotely sensed vegetation cover with measures inferred from other data sources using expert input to estimate terrestrial habitat intactness (See the NSW HI Index Information Sheet for further details).

What data are available?

Data are initially available annually from 2017, currently with a two-year time lag for the most recent layer due to the availability of NSW HI Index inputs. Data for other periods may be generated as needed. Layers provide near-complete statewide coverage but are limited by the NSW HI Index inputs available at the time of each assessment, and their accuracy, currency and completeness.

Data details:

• Data type: raster, GeoTIFF, 32bit floating point
• CRS: EPSG:3577 - GDA94 / Australian Albers
• Pixel size: 90 x 90m
• Pixel values: 0.0 (lowest NHI) to 1.0 (highest NHI)
• Null value: -9999

What can the data be used for?

The NSW Neighbourhood Habitat Intactness (NHI) Index currently underpins the Biodiversity Indicator Program’s ecological carrying capacity of terrestrial habitat indicator that’s reported in the NSW Biodiversity Outlook Report. The NSW NHI Index, as used in the BIP, is an estimate of the ability of terrestrial habitat to support the persistence of biodiversity based on the quality and connectivity of a location and its surroundings.

The NSW NHI Index has supported state and regional biodiversity assessments including regional conservation initiatives, habitat connectivity, native vegetation management, threatened species and climate impact assessments. The NSW NHI Index helps to inform NSW Saving our Species investment in landscape managed species.

The NSW NHI Index has been used to measure connectivity (Love et al. 2020), across structurally distinct habitat types and at various spatial resolutions, for jurisdictional reporting, and in the context of climate-induced shifts to environmental niches (Drielsma et al. 2022).

The methods and tools underpinning the NSW NHI Index have been used beyond NSW DCCEEW with use in other state and federal governments and research programs. Examples include the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s National Connectivity Index 2.0, the Australian Clean Energy Regulator’s Nature Repair Market, and the Queensland Government Spatial Biocondition method.