Below is a concise summary of legislation changes over the past 30 years that have removed existing legal protections and increased logging of native forests.
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1. Native Vegetation Conservation Act 1997 (NSW) – [Later replaced by the [even worse] Native Vegetation Act 2003:
The 1997 Act claimed to regulate land clearing but instead allowed exemptions for forestry operations from existing regulations under Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs).
The 2003 Act relaxed restrictions further, introducing self-assessment for landholders and reducing oversight on clearing activities.
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2. Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2005 (NSW):
This amendment reduced scrutiny and simplified development approvals, reducing environmental impact assessments for forestry and other projects.
This amendment contributed to the annual approval of ~14,000 hectares of public native forest logging in NSW, much of it in biodiverse areas like the Northern Rivers.
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3. Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) and Local Land Services Amendment Act 2016 (NSW):
These Acts replaced the Native Vegetation Act 2003, further relaxing land-clearing laws. The 2016 framework reduced protections for riparian zones (e.g., buffer zones around streams dropped from 50m to 10-20m in some cases) and allowed broader exemptions for forestry and agricultural clearing under “allowable activities.”
A leaked 2019 Natural Resources Commission report noted a potential 13-fold surge in land clearing post-2016, with significant impacts in the Northern Rivers.
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4. Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) under the Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002:
RFAs, established in the late 1990s and formalised in 2002, exempt native forest logging in NSW from the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Section 38 of the EPBC Act states: “No approval is required for forestry operations undertaken in accordance with an RFA.”
RFAs enabled logging in critical habitats, including Northern Rivers forests, eliminating federal oversight.
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5. Forestry Act 2012 (NSW) and Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA):
The 2012 Act governs Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) operations, with CIFOA setting logging rules. CIFOA relaxed survey requirements for threatened species (e.g., daytime surveys for nocturnal greater gliders) and reduced protections for streamside vegetation.
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Removing legal safeguards for native forests has destroyed native forest ecologies and is continuing to do so.
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