EXPLAINER
Biodiversity levels in New South Wales are declining rapidly, according to a report submitted to the State Parliament on the 26th of June 2025. The report indicates that land clearing is one of the major threats to our native landscape.
The State of the Environment Report (‘SoE Report’), prepared by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority, predicts that only 50 per cent of all species currently listed as threatened will still be living in 100 years’ time. This means that, by the year 2125, New South Wales will lose over 300 plant species and 150 animal species.
The SoE Report found that NSW is struggling to support native plants, animals, and ecosystems.
When measuring ecological carrying capacity, which is an assessment of the biodiversity and ecological integrity by considering the connectivity and fragmentation of ecosystems and how that impacts how species interact with the landscape, it was found that the ecological carrying capacity of NSW has been slashed to 29 per cent of its natural level since colonisation.
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW directly links the clearing of native vegetation to the displacement and extinction of native animals because the effects of land clearing leads to the further deterioration of the condition and habitat values of the remnant vegetation.
What is the NSW SoE Report?
First published in 1993, the New South Wales State of the Environment Report (‘SoE Report’) is published once every three years for the purpose of providing credible statewide information about the NSW environment.
The nation-wide report of the same name is tabled in Federal parliament every five years, with the next report due for publication in December 2026.
This recent submission is NSW’s 12th SoE Report. Tony Chappel, the CEO of the EPA, writes that detailed long-term reporting “will continue to inform our role as a steward in caring for and protecting the environment not only today but for generations to come” (SoE Report, p. 6).
The EPA collates relevant data that has been collected by NSW agencies responsible for managing the state’s environmental assets. This data is validated by independent experts, and then, an advisory committee formed of government representatives and academic specialists assess environmental trends and provide policy advice.
The EPA’s extensive synthesis of research has culminated in the 2024 NSW SoE Report: a 676 page summary and analysis of the health status of the NSW environment and of long-term environmental trends.
The Nature Conservation Council NSW CEO, Jacqui Mumford, writes that this report has “signalled that nature was getting worse across the board, with vegetation clearing a major driver of biodiversity decline”.
Why is Land Clearing Threatening Biodiversity?
The NSW Government’s State-Wide Landcover and Trees Study (‘SLATS’) reveals a disturbing increase by 40 per cent in land clearing rates across NSW.
In 2023, over 65,000 hectares of land were cleared. The bulk of this clearing is attributed to agricultural practices. From 2018, the total area of cleared land amounts to over 400,000 hectares – approximately double the size of the ACT.
According to research into land clearing policy conducted in 2021, land management practices and policies in NSW have put native vegetation under enormous pressure, with clearing for agriculture being mostly unregulated in NSW before 1990.
The impacts of long-term land clearing and development have reduced the quantity of native vegetation, significantly impacting the biodiversity of the ecosystem’s flora and fauna.
Clearing native vegetation causes irreversible disturbance of habitat for animals and insects, fragments native and threatened species, and limits the ability for an ecosystem to adapt to climate change. Indiscriminate land clearing practices also amplify the effects of global warming, particularly in urban environments by removing green cover.
What is being done about land clearing?
While the clearing of native vegetation is listed as a key threatening process under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, there are limited avenues to effectively prevent people from clearing land.
The general rule is that native vegetation can only be cleared in accordance with a development consent or property vegetation plan. This rule is enforced to varying degrees of success. Many wealthier property developers choose to deal with the consequences of their actions – consequences which critics say are insufficient.
Just recently in August 2025, following a lengthy legal battle in and out of court, a property owner in Barden Ridge accepted responsibility for carrying out prohibited vegetation clearance, including the removal of 16 protected trees, and excavating 6,000 cubic metres of land without the approval of the Sutherland Shire Council and in contravention of the NSW Environment Planning Act.
The 7.4 hectares of land in question forms part of the native wildlife corridor along the Woronora River and was found to be home to the powerful owl which is listed as a vulnerable species.
The agreement reached between the parties directs the property owner to pay a $109K fine to the council, and to restore the land to the condition it was in before the unauthorised clearing took place. Under this direction, the owner must replant 38,000 native plants including at least 600 trees.
Sutherland Shire Council described the outcome as a “major win”, whereas others have called it a slap on the wrist.
Under the legislation, illegal land clearing should attract significant penalties of up to $5 million for a corporation or $1 million for an individual. These stronger penalties can only be issued by a judge, so by coming to an agreement out-of-court, the property owner’s fine is comparatively miniscule.
Laws that criminalise illegal land clearing should be supported by strong deterrents like fines or other punitive measures.
The restoration order has been condemned by a spokesperson for the Woronora River Community Association as “inadequate”, as reported in the ABC.
Reforestation efforts have reported varying degrees of success, often failing to effectively abrogate the initial acts of destruction, or only nullifying the initial land clearing decades later.
Previous state land management laws and biodiversity conservation frameworks received criticism for resulting in the broadscale land clearing across the State and for putting biodiversity at further risk.
While 2024 reforms to NSW nature laws addressed this criticism to some extent, stronger laws are required to more effectively stop runaway land clearing practices in both urban and rural environments.
These 2024 law reforms “delay strong native vegetation laws for another two years” says Dr Stuart Blanch, WWF-Australia’s forest policy manager “our wildlife and wild places cannot afford to wait any longer for action”
The law must go further to control land clearing practices to prevent continued biodiversity losses, holding all those living with the land equally responsible for these preservation efforts.
Article by Natasha Lai
Sources –
State of the Environment Report –
https://www.soe.epa.nsw.gov.au/#
https://www.soe.epa.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/NSW_SoE2024_ReportCards_File.pdf
https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-05/NSWSOE2024.pdf
Barden Ridge Case –
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-18/fine-sydney-developer-illegally-cutting-trees-for-luxury-mansion/105628970
https://www.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/your-council/news-and-publications/council-news/sutherland-shire-council-secures-major-win-over-illegal-land-clearing
https://www.theleader.com.au/story/9043209/sutherland-shire-council-reaches-agreement-over-illegal-bushland-clearing/?msg=profile
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/developer-who-illegally-cleared-land-to-build-3-million-mansion-forced-to-replant-native-bush-20250817-p5mnmn.htm
Biodiversity VS Land Clearing –
https://www.nature.org.au/slats2025
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837720325813
https://datasets.seed.nsw.gov.au/dataset/ecological-carrying-capacity-of-terrestrial-habitat
https://wwf.org.au/news/2025/disturbing-40-jump-in-nsw-land-clearing/
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-vegetation/landcover-science
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/news/latest-nsw-native-vegetation-clearing-data-published
What is being done RE Land Clearing? –
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112708005070?casa_token=Rb83WvAdF5sAAAAA:vi_ERxcWUP8EJm7_wk_8doWh4tXFxncrsWp-yn-jMD6Ta5A0EtvYzJQVZ2FQOBp0pCf36IDWmX3c
https://www.lawsociety.com.au/sites/default/files/2018-04/Native%20vegetation.pdf
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2016-063#sch.4
https://www.edo.org.au/2021/11/04/explainer-clearing-the-way-for-more-clearing-updated-rules-for-vegetation-clearing-in-nsw/
https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-vegetation/land-management-native-vegetation-compliance-and-enforcement/help-stop-illegal-native-vegetation-clearing
https://www.science.org/content/article/reforestation-means-just-planting-trees
https://wwf.org.au/news/2024/nsw-nature-law-reforms-must-go-further-to-stop-runaway-land-clearing/