Development could be banned in certain areas amid sweeping recommendations

Banning development in parts of NSW to protect flora and fauna is among almost 60 recommendations made following an independent review, with environmental groups welcoming the chance to improve one of the most important biodiversity laws.

In the review of the state’s Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, released on Thursday, lead author and former federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry said outdated regulation had resulted in biodiversity not being conserved in the state.

“The diversity and quality of ecosystems are not being maintained, nor is their capacity to adapt to change and provide for the needs of future generations being enhanced,” he said.

A review into the state’s biodiversity conservation act found it was failing to help maintain a healthy environment.Credit: Brook Mitchell

Among 58 recommendations included identifying high biodiversity value areas, where development cannot occur, expanding threatened species programs, better engagement with First Nations and proactively addressing climate change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.

Henry said NSW, like many other countries, would need to commit to a nature-positive approach – one that focuses on halting and reversing trends of ecological destruction.

“We must commit to ‘nature positive’ if we are to have any confidence that future generations will have the opportunity to be as well-off as we are,” he said.

The review has also made several recommendations around the state’s controversial offsetting scheme, which involves allowing developers to damage animal habitats in one part of NSW and pay to protect them elsewhere.

The recommendations will redefine who the scheme applies to, ensure like-for-like offsets occur, grant the environment minister greater power in determining whether developments with serious and irreversible impacts can proceed, and improve transparency.

The state’s biodiversity offset scheme became highly contentious following an investigation by The Guardian that found vast tracts of key habitat razed for the construction of the new Sydney airport were delayed by years. In other examples, developers paid to protect land that was already protected by other laws, regulations or schemes.

Other recommendations include funding accredited wildlife hospitals and reimbursing veterinary practices for costs incurred in treating injured wildlife, ensuring greater data collection and expanding investment in natural capital markets. 

NSW Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe said the government would consider the recommendations, while it also works to address the biodiversity offset scheme and strengthen environmental protections.

“The previous government presided over 12 years of environmental neglect that led to record numbers of threatened species, increased land clearing and saw koalas become endangered and on track to extinction,” she said.

WWF Australia conservation scientist Dr Stuart Blanch said the review provided a critical opportunity for the government to rewrite the states’ failed nature conservation law to legislate a goal of making the state nature positive.

Environmental Defenders Office Special Counsel of Nature, Cerin Loane, added it was hard to imagine a more damming assessment of the state’s biodiversity laws.

“The laws are simply not doing what the public expect them to. The whole act needs to be overhauled to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and to stop extinction,” she said. “Governments need to put nature protection first by overhauling these key laws and backing them in with adequate resourcing.”

Nature Conversation Council acting chief executive officer Brad Smith said he hoped the recommendations would be accepted by the government because they addressed systemic issues.

“This review represents the single most significant opportunity we’ve seen to fix environmental laws in over a decade,” he said.

Greens MP Sue Higginson added the review was a clear call to action to protect the environment.

“It is now or never for nature. We must prioritise protecting what is left and work to restore and regenerate nature before it is too late. We are in an extinction crisis and habitat loss and destruction is the main cause,” she said. “The very laws that are meant to stop this are more than failing, they are facilitating biodiversity loss at unprecedented rates.”

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