The Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC), the state’s peak environmental advocacy organisation, is calling for urgent protection of native bushland after new government data shows land clearing rates remain out of control.
The NCC notes that the Minns Government was elected with a promise to rein in land clearing by reforming the state’s nature protection laws. Years have gone by and habitat clearing loopholes remain open, allowing the destruction of vital native plant species and critical habitat for our state’s threatened wildlife.
More than 80,000 hectares of native vegetation was cleared in 2024, and the state’s relentless land clearing rates remain stubbornly high.
NCC CEO Jacqui Mumford says new data shows current nature laws continue to fail, with disturbing consequences. ‘Since colonisation, more than 60 per cent of NSW’s original native vegetation has been cleared, thinned or significantly disturbed — and many native plants have been lost altogether,’ she said.
‘Land clearing remains too high for the health of habitat and biodiversity. The government’s data now shows more than half a million hectares of native vegetation has been cleared since the Native Vegetation Act was scrapped in 2017.
‘More alarming, public registers show more than three million hectares of native vegetation is at risk of clearing under existing pre-approvals. This is a ticking time-bomb.’
Broken promises
Jacqui Mumford went on to say, ‘The Minns Labor government promised to fix conservation and land clearing laws as part of their 2023 election commitments, yet nothing has changed. Where’s the new and improved conservation laws they promised at the last election?
‘Our current nature laws continue to fail. Habitat destruction remains stubbornly high, all while our native species are vanishing.
‘We know habitat clearing is one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss in NSW, but we’re still seeing broadscale land clearing happening on private land where vulnerable native wildlife live.
‘We need new laws that put nature first,’ she said.
Clearing
The NCC says that in 2024, so-called ‘Invasive Native Species’ clearing represented 61 per cent of all authorised clearing on rural regulated land. ‘We now know what is behind broadscale land clearing in NSW and it’s a nonsense classification unique to NSW,’ said Ms Mumford.
‘The “invasive native species” provision is a political construct with no scientific basis, but it allows iconic species like the Coolabah tree and river red gum to be cleared on a large scale for agriculture.
‘The Minns Government committed to stop excess land clearing. To do so, the NSW government must remove the “INS” list as an immediate priority.
‘Scientists predict NSW will lose nearly 500 wildlife species to extinction within the next century. As it stands, we remain in that trajectory, and so much more needs to be done to protect nature – the time is now.’
Mumford says the data released yesterday shows NSW’s environmental laws are still too weak.
‘The rate at which native vegetation is being destroyed in NSW remains unacceptable. We’re calling on Premier Chris Minns to do as promised, strengthen habitat protection laws, and close loopholes allowing critical habitat to be clear-felled.
‘We urgently need nature laws that are strong, enforceable, and put the environment first, or there’ll be no more trees left to clear.’
NCC’s key asks for the NSW government
- Deliver strong and decisive reforms to the Biodiversity Conservation Act, and delivery the Nature Strategy, ensuring high conservation values across public and private land are always afforded the highest protection;
- Align NSW legislation with recent changes to the federal laws that ensures vegetation older than 15 years is considered by conservation laws;
- Ensure changes are accompanied by resources and support for landholders to deliver and benefit from the changes, including doubling the capacity of LLS natural capital team;
- Fix the local land services regulations that continue to be the largest enabler of clearing, removing high risk codes like “INS” provisions that enable broadscale clearing.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
