Biodiversity

Local government plays an essential role in the conservation and management of biodiversity and threatened species in NSW.

Councils play a key role in vegetation management and land use regulation, including: 

• as a regulatory and consent authority for development and vegetation regulated under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act),
• as a local strategic land use planning authority, implementing land use zoning and local vegetation and biodiversity policy,
• as a land management authority for public land with biodiversity values, and
• as a development proponent for projects impacting on biodiversity.

NSW Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation Framework

The NSW Government introduced the NSW Land Management and Biodiversity Conservation Framework in 2016 following an independent review of the NSW biodiversity legislation. The framework made some significant changes to the way we protect biodiversity, how we regulate a range of development activities on land and how the impacts of these activities on the natural environment are managed. The reforms introduced the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016  and supporting Regulations, and the native vegetation provisions under the Local Land Services Act 2013.

Key components of the reform included:

• A new framework for managing native vegetation clearing
• A strategic approach to private land and threatened species conservation
• An expanded biodiversity offsetting scheme

Reviews of the Biodiversity Conservation Act and the native vegetation provisions under the Local Land Services Act

In 2023, an independent panel undertook a review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act). A statutory review of the Local Land Services Act 2013 (LLS Act), native vegetation provisions (Part 5A and Schedules 5A and 5B) was carried out in parallel.

The final reports on the BC Act and on the native vegetation provisions of the LLS Act were tabled in Parliament in August 2023. LGNSW made submissions to both reviews.

Final report – Independent review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act, 2023

Final report – Statutory review of the Local Land Services Act, 2013 - Native Vegetation Provisions

LGNSW Submission – Review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act, April 2023

LGNSW Submission – Review of the Local Land Services Act 2013 - Native Vegetation Provisions, December 2022

NSW Plan for Nature

Released in July 2024, the NSW Plan for Nature is the NSW Government’s response to the review of the LLS Act and the BC Act. The plan sets out the direction of the NSW Government to achieve ‘nature positive’ outcomes by repairing and regenerating the environment. It aims to deliver on three election commitments:

• to reform the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme,
• to stop excess land clearing and
• to strengthen environmental protections.

Threatened species conservation

The main legislation that identifies and protects threatened species populations and ecological communities in NSW is the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) and its supporting Regulations.

NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust

The NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust was established as part of the NSW Government’s biodiversity reforms. The Trust supports and encourages landholders to enter into agreements to protect biodiversity on private land.

Conservation agreements as conditions of consent

The Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) has developed guidelines for the use of conservation agreements as conditions of consent.

Biodiversity Offsets Scheme

The Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS) establishes a framework to avoid, minimise and offset impacts on biodiversity from development and clearing. It also establishes biodiversity stewardship agreements, which are voluntary in-perpetuity agreements entered into by landholders to secure offset sites.

A decision support tool has been developed to assist councils to determine when the BOS applies.

The Biodiversity Values Map

The Biodiversity Values (BV) Map identifies land with high biodiversity value that is particularly sensitive to impacts from development and clearing. The map forms part of the BOS Threshold, which is a trigger for determining whether the BOS applies to a clearing or development proposal. Councils can access the BV Map spatial data through the SEED portal.

Biodiversity Certification

Biodiversity Certification is a streamlined biodiversity assessment process for areas of land proposed for development. The process identifies areas that can be developed after they’re certified and measures to offset the impacts of development. Where land is certified, development may proceed without the usual requirement for site-by-site assessment.

SEPP (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017

The State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017 regulates the clearing of native vegetation in non-rural zones across the state, where clearing does not otherwise require development consent under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. Find out more from the NSW Planning and Environment SEPP web page.

Chapter 2 (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas), of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021 sets the rules for the clearing of vegetation in NSW on land zoned for urban and environmental purposes that is not linked to a development application.

Land management

The Local Land Services Act provides a regulatory framework for the management of native vegetation in NSW. A Native Vegetation Regulatory Map identifies rural land that is regulated under the land Management Framework. Visit the LLS website for more information.

Support for councils

The NSW Government is supporting local government in the conservation and management of biodiversity and threatened species and in the implementation of the NSW biodiversity reforms through supporting information for councils, bulletins, webinars and other resources.
Learn More

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is the Federal Government's main piece of environmental legislation. It provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities, and heritage places.

The Act focuses on the protection of matters of national environmental significance, with the states and territories responsible for matters of state and local significance. The EPBC Regulations 2025 commenced on 19 December 2025, replacing the EPBC Regulations 2000 in substantially the same form with only minor corrections. The Act requires an independent review of operations every 10 years with the most recent 2020 Samuel Review recommending major changes to the Act. To learn more, visit the EPBC website.

LGNSW Submission – EPBC Act, April 2020

CASE STUDIES

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