Bring Back Our Wetlands
If we want to stop fish kills, clean our waterways, absorb carbon, and provide habitat for endangered animals, we need to restore our wetlands. More than 90% of coastal wetlands in NSW have been drained, damaged or destroyed.
We know what’s possible — from Hexham Swamp at Newcastle, to Yarrahapinni Wetlands near Kempsey, we’ve seen how beneficial restoration projects can be for communities and nature.
Yet so many projects can’t get off the ground because of bureaucratic red tape. Currently, state planning laws mean these projects must get through the same process as developers use to build a block of flats. This needs to change.
We need the government to make it easier to restore our wetlands.
We call on the NSW Government to:
- Fund community projects to restore low-lying floodplains back to functioning wetlands.
- Create a dedicated planning pathway to streamline the approvals process for wetland restoration.
- Set blue carbon restoration targets.
Find more information about coastal wetlands here.