Native vegetation
Review of the native vegetation regulations
The NSW Government is undertaking a review of the regulation that underpins the Native Vegetation Act. This includes a review of the Native Vegetation Regulation 2005, the Environmental Outcomes Assessment Methodology (EOAM) and the Private Native Forestry Code of Practice (PNF Code).
If you would like to stay up to date with the review please email your details to native.vegetation@environment.nsw.gov.au to be added to our Register of Interest.
You can also tell us your experiences and views on the way the government regulates native vegetation through the native vegetation survey.
Protecting and managing native vegetation
Protecting native vegetation reduces negative impacts on biodiversity, salinity, threatened species, soils, riverbanks and water quality. Minimising native vegetation clearing is also essential for helping to reduce the effects of climate change.
The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) and the Department of Primary Industries are the main agencies responsible for maintaining native vegetation in NSW. OEH's roles include:
policy and legal advice and reform
guideline development
auditing, enforcement and compliance
science input and reform
conservation assessment and planning
monitoring and reporting.
OEH implements incentive programs which are delivered in collaboration with CMAs. These programs have provided $120 million in incentives to help restore native vegetation on private property across NSW.
OEH also supports botanic gardens, which play a key role in protecting the genetic diversity of our plants for the future.
Find out more about managing native vegetation
The Native Vegetation Act 2003 and Native Vegetation Regulation 2005 guide the way we manage native vegetation in NSW by preventing broadscale clearing unless it improves or maintains environmental outcomes. Under the Act landholders can negotiate property vegetation plans (PVPs) with the local CMA. PVPs describe how native vegetation will be managed on the property. This includes establishing areas for clearing and associated offsets or rehabilitation with incentive funding.
Following changes on 1 August 2007, harvesting of timber for the purposes of private native forestry requires approval through a private native forestry property vegetation plan that ensures environmental outcomes are improved or maintained. These plans are voluntary to enter into but once in place form a legally binding agreement between OEH and a landowner about the management of private forests.
The regulation of native plants growing on land or in fresh water is the responsibility of OEH. Many native plants are protected in NSW under the Threatened Species Conservation Act or the National Parks and Wildlife Act.
OEH is developing the NSW Vegetation Information System as a focal point for providing integrated, coordinated access to the vegetation maps and data for the state.
To find out what plants occur in a National Park or Reserve you can search the Wildlife Atlas.
Page last updated: 18 November 2011
