Plant licensing is governed by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act). It is an offence to pick (section 2.2) and deal in (section 2.5) protected native plants (and plant parts) without a biodiversity conservation licence. Deal in includes buy, sell, possess, trade and import/export.

About wild harvester licences

  1. A wild harvester licence allows you to harvest:
    • whole protected plant species listed in Group 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 6 of the BC Act
    • from naturally occurred stands on property you own
    • for commercial purposes.

Refer to Appendix A of the Whole-plant sustainable management plan.

  1. A wild harvester licence may only be granted to the owner of the property for which the licence is sought.
  2. Non-property owners need to apply for an approved harvest licence. A non-property owner cannot apply for a wild harvest licence.
  3. A wild harvest licence does not permit picking whole plants from:
    • threatened species listed under Schedule 1 of the BC Act
    • plants from within threatened ecological communities (Schedule 2 of the BC Act)
    • plants within areas of outstanding biodiversity value (Division 2, Part 3 of the BC Act)

unless approved in a salvage situation.

  1. If you are harvesting whole plants from the wild and cultivating plants in a nursery for sale, both activities can be authorised under the one licence. Ensure appropriate plant tags are applied, including identification of whether the plants are wild harvest or plantation grown.
  2. Allow up to 28 days for a licence application to be assessed. You will be contacted if further information is needed to complete the assessment.
  3. The property identified in the application may be inspected before and after a licence is granted. If you are renewing your wild harvester licence, please contact the Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator to discuss whether an inspection is required.
  4. You must be able to demonstrate the proposed harvest operation is sustainable. Any reasonable restriction or limitation on the species and quantities that may be harvested can be placed on a wild harvester licence by an authorised officer to ensure the harvest meets sustainability requirements.
  5. Licence applications will be considered on merit but will only be granted if the proposed wild harvest is sustainable.
  6. Each licence includes conditions. It is important you understand and can meet the conditions of your licence, if granted. It is an offence under section 2.14 of the BC Act to breach a condition of a licence.
  7. Licensees must keep a copy of their licence at the property where the whole plants are to be harvested and processed.
  8. Where the licensee has a retail or wholesale outlet, a copy of the licence must be available on request by an authorised officer. It is recommended the licence be displayed at the point of sale.
  9. The licensee must establish monitoring plots to monitor harvest sustainability, and evidence of your monitoring program is to be submitted, if you are applying to renew your licence application.
  10. The licensee shall forward to the Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator yearly harvest return records no later than 28 days after the annual issue date. For example, if your licence is issued on 1 November 2023 and valid for 3 years, your harvest return will be due on 29 November 2024, 29 November 2025 and so on.
  11. A new licence will not be granted until the harvest return records have been submitted.
  12. It is an offence for a licensee to harvest and sell any protected plants other than those described on their licence.
  13. Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator (BHR) tags are required for all species harvested from the wild. The number of BHR tags allocated to a licence will be determined upon assessment of the application.
  14. It is an offence to provide false or misleading information in applications and documents in connection with matters under the BC Act.
  15. Definitions:
    • Harvest operation means the entire operation to be authorised under the licence.
    • Harvest site means each location where the harvest will take place uniquely identified by one title and portion number (lot and DP number).
    • Harvest block means multiple places within a site where picking whole plants, cut flowers, parts of plants and seeds will take place.

Attachment checklist

Applicants must provide additional information to support the application, as described in Appendices B, C, D and E of the Whole-plant sustainable management plan 2023–27.

All details must be filled in and relevant documentation provided before this licence application will be processed.

Provide the following information:

  • Maps identifying:
    • the location of the harvest operation, including access from the nearest town and geographical information (e.g. latitude and longitude)
    • specific information of the proposed harvest site(s) identifying discrete or individual harvest blocks on the property and location of plants to be harvested
    • polygons/outlines that show the extent of the harvest area
    • the location of the stockpile site and the processing/nursery site.
  • Information about the landscape of the harvest operation and site(s) and property or properties, such as:
    • any approvals for land cleaning or other major disturbance (provide a copy)
    • whether the property is managed under a conservation agreement or other relevant covenant
    • any recent changes such as land clearing, fire, flood or other natural event
    • vegetation types.
  • Harvest site management and stockpile controls – refer to Appendix D of the Whole-plant sustainable management plan:
    • pre-harvest treatment
    • harvest methods (extraction process)
    • post-harvest management of the plants – potting, watering, shade protection, survivorship, etc.
  • Methodology/evidence of population assessment and determination of harvest numbers – refer to Appendices J and K of the Whole-plant sustainable management plan
  • Description of the monitoring program to manage the harvest operation(s) sustainably
  • Statement of predicted impacts of the proposed harvest
  • Measures for damage mitigation

Apply now

Complete all sections of the application form and provide the required attachments.

Application for a wild harvester licence – whole protected plants

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Information for applicants
Use this form to apply for a biodiversity conservation licence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW), authorising the picking, possession, trading, buying and selling of whole protected plants on property owned by the applicant.

Refer to the Whole-plant sustainable management plan 2023–27.
Applicant information

Individual applicant details


















Organisation applicant details























Person(s) who will work on behalf of the applicant



Description of the harvest proposal

Refer to NSW Land Registry Services about accessing land title information.

The following declarations about threatened species are required. NSW BioNet vegetation classification and BioNet Atlas are the repository for biodiversity data products managed by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. 











Details of the harvest operation


Harvest area in hectares


Stockpile site location 

Landscape and vegetation 

Harvest operation


Sustainable and rotational harvesting 




Harvesting whole plants must not impact the viability of the individual plants or populations or adversely affect the long-term survival of the source individual plant or population. A condition of the licence requires the licence to establish monitoring plots to monitor harvest sustainability.


Post-harvest care of plants 



Species to be harvested

e.g. Platycerium bifurcatum

e.g. Elkhorn

if applicable, see Appendix K, Whole Plant Sustainable Management Plan

e.g. 30
Application fee

Licences will not be granted without payment in full. You will receive a payment link via SMS once your application has been reviewed by our team (within 28 days).

The payment link will last for 24 hours after it has been issued. If you have missed the deadline for payment, please email [email protected] with your name, licence number and application type (for example, Wild Harvester Licence) and we will issue you with another link.
Declaration of applicant









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Privacy collection notice

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is collecting your personal information through this form.

Why are we collecting your information?

We are collecting your information so we can accept your licence application.

How will we share your information?

We will not share your information with anyone else unless you give your consent, or the law requires or allows us to do so.

Are you required by law to give us your information?

You are not required by law to give us your information but, if you choose not to, we may not be able to accept your licence application.

Your right to access and correct your information

To access or correct your information, please contact:

Information Access and Privacy Unit
Locked Bag 5022
Parramatta NSW 2124
Phone: 02 8275 1095
Email: [email protected]

More information

For more details on how your information is handled, please refer to Privacy and security.

Public register

As required by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, a public register of biodiversity conservation licences will be published on the department's website. The public register will not include personal information of individuals (for example, name, postal and email address, phone number and date of birth). Information about the location of plants and animals covered by licences will be restricted to postcode.

Suspension or cancellation

The Environment Agency Head may cancel or suspend this licence:

  • on the grounds the licensee has contravened or failed to comply with conditions of the licence
  • on the grounds the licensee has been convicted of an offence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 or other relevant legislation
  • on the grounds the licensee has made a statement that the licensee knows, or ought reasonably to know, is false or misleading in, or in connection with, the application for the licence
  • for any reason the Environment Agency Head thinks appropriate.

Licence conditions

The following is a sample of the licence conditions for a wild harvester licence for whole protected plants. Conditions may be added or removed in specific circumstances.

  1. Unless stated otherwise, words and expressions used in this licence have the same meaning as those set out in the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
  2. Under section 2.14 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act, it is an offence to contravene or fail to comply with a condition of this licence.
  3. In this licence:
    1. ‘licensee’ means the person named as the licensee and persons working on behalf of the licensee
    2. ‘the department’ means the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
    3. ‘WPMP’ means 'Whole Plant Sustainable Management Plan 2023–27: protected and threatened plants in the cut-flower industry'
    4. ‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the department.

General

  1. The licensee may only harvest whole plants from the species specified on this licence.
  2. The licensee may only harvest the quantities of whole plants specified on this licence.
  3. The licensee may only harvest whole plants species from the land specified on this licence.
  4. It is the responsibility of the applicant to confirm the identification of the species that they intend to harvest. PlantNet NSW Flora Online (the plant information network Royal Botanic Gardens) can assist; but where this is in doubt the species should be formally identified through a recognised authority such as the NSW Herbarium.
  5. The licensee must comply with all licence requirements documented in the Whole Plant Sustainable Management Plan 2023–2027, as amended or replaced from time to time.
  6. The licensee must produce the licence to any authorised officer or owner, occupier or lessee of the land specified on this licence; as required.
  7. The licensee shall produce the licence to all who buy or receive plants from this licence.
  8. Where the licensee has a retail or wholesale outlet, a copy of the licence must be available on request by an authorised officer. It is recommended the licence be displayed at the point of sale
  9. Receipts and records for plant part sales must be kept for the period of this licence. The licensee will make these receipts available for inspection upon request by an authorised officer.
  10. Any place where plant parts are to be picked, stored or processed are to be made available for inspection on request by an authorised officer.

Plant tags

  1. Plant tags are required for all wild harvest plants. Licensees must apply to the Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator for plant tags for the amount specified in this licence only.
  2. In accordance with the conditions with the Whole Plant Sustainable Management Plan 2023–2027, plant tags must:
    1. be permanently attached to the flower plant product
    2. state they ‘wild harvested
    3. have description of plant origin or species
    4. scientific name of species
    5. have a unique tag number.
  3. Plant tags are not transferable and must be used in association with the license number only.
  4. Plant parts that require tagging must be tagged on the land specified and described on the licence prior to being transported.

Sustainable management

  1. Whole plant harvesting, collection, processing and use should be undertaken using best-practice standards and must not impact the viability of the individual plants or populations or adversely affect the long-term survival of the source individual plant or population, specifically:
    1. unless precise information about the safe collecting limits for a species are known, a collection limit of a maximum of 10% of the available population of approved size classes for group 1
    2. unless precise information about the sustainable harvesting limits for a species is known, a collection limit of a maximum 1% of the available population of approved size classes for group 2 species
    3. harvesting should occur over as wide an area as possible
    4. collection methods must be conducted in a manner that minimises damage to all target and non-target plant species.
  2. Collecting any other regenerative plant material that can be used in cultivation is not permitted under a wild harvest licence.

Monitoring

  1. The licensee must establish a program/s to monitor harvest sustainability which may include:
    1. establishing fixed photographic monitoring points over representative sections of the harvest site/s
    2. an accurate map (+/- 10 m) with geographical coordinates of harvest sites and monitoring plots
    3. photographs taken immediately before and after picking at each site
    4. detailed description of species and numbers of plants before and the harvest operation.

Record keeping

  1. The monitoring program/plots/photographs must be provided to the Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator no later than 28 days at the completion of the harvest operation and/or upon the expiration of the licence.
  2. No licence renewal or new licence will be granted until monitoring conditions have been fulfilled and a report provided.
  3. Harvest return records are to be submitted yearly. The licensee shall forward to the Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator annual harvest records on the form provided no later than 28 days after the anniversary date of the licence.
  4. No licence renewal or new licence will be granted until all the harvest returns have been submitted.

Indemnity

  1. The licensee agrees to indemnify, and keep indemnified, the Crown in right of NSW (the department), the NSW Minister administering the Biodiversity Conservation Act, the Environment Agency Head of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and their employees, agents and contractors, in the absence of any wilful misconduct or negligence on their part, from and against all actions, demands, claims, proceedings, losses, damages, costs (including legal costs), charges or expenses suffered or incurred by them resulting from:
    1. any damage or destruction to any real or personal property
    2. injury suffered or sustained (including death) by any persons arising out of or in connection with the activities undertaken pursuant to this licence.

Contact us

Biodiversity and Heritage Regulator – plant licensing

Phone: 1300 173 376

Email: [email protected]