1997 State of the Environment Report is available on request (on CD)
Bega Valley Shire is one of the two large coastal Local Government Areas in the Australian Capital Region.
Known as the Sapphire Coast, the shire occupies an area of about 628,950 hectares along a narrow strip from Wallaga Lake-Bermagui in the north to the Victorian–NSW border in the south. Only 55 kilometres from the coast, the western border of the shire is at the top of Brown Mountain on the Great Dividing Range.
More than two-thirds of Bega Valley Shire is covered by native forest—33% is State Forest and 32% is National Park. Bega Valley Shire Council is responsible for management of the remaining 27% of the Shire.
As of June 2007, an estimated 32,655 people lived in Bega Valley Shire. (Source Australian Bureau of Statistics comments on years 2001-2007 ABS Catalogue No 3218.0 (2008) Almost three quarters of these lived in the major towns and villages.
