In April 2025, we joined with an alliance of groups who care deeply about the future of coastal wetlands in NSW to send a letter to the Minister for Water Rose Jackson and call on the NSW Government to support wetland restoration and blue carbon investment in NSW. Read the letter below.

15 April 2025

Dear Minister Jackson,

We write this letter as an alliance of environmental organisations, Traditional Owners, stakeholder groups, practitioners and community representatives who care deeply about the future of coastal wetlands in NSW.

We Need Wetlands

Coastal wetland ecosystems like mangroves and saltmarsh are essential. They:

• Are highly important cultural sites for many First Nations communities.
• Absorb more CO₂ than any other ecosystem, helping to fight climate change.
• Protect coastal communities from climate impacts like erosion and storm damage.
• Support oysteries and fisheries, as well as tourism and recreation economies.
• Provide vital habitat for migratory and threatened species, increasing biodiversity.
• Purify our waterways from chemicals and other pollutants.

Despite this, over half of NSW’s coastal wetlands have been lost since colonisation began. In some catchments, up to 90% of low-lying wetlands have been drained or cleared. In the North Coast, for example, this has led to climate vulnerability, water acidic as lemon juice, blackwater events, mass fish kills, and locally collapsed primary industries. Fortunately, this is all reversible – from Hexham Swamp to Yarrahapinni Wetlands, the NSW Government has repeatedly proven wetland restoration to be viable and worthwhile.

Roadblocks to Restoration

Our current state planning laws were designed to limit environmental harms, not facilitate nature restoration. Navigating so many regulations, processes, and departments means many proposed projects would overrun grant costs and timelines on administration work alone, making them unviable.

We believe the government has an opportunity to take immediate action, to ensure wetland investment is more accessible for NSW landholders. This would ensure NSW does not get left behind as other states move forward with reforms to attract this investment.

The Solution

Ultimately, we need a dedicated, fit-for-purpose planning pathway to handle wetland restoration. This dedicated pathway is crucial to ensuring restoration can occur at scale, yielding significant community and economic benefit throughout NSW. Until then, small, targeted amendments to key regulations would reduce barriers for projects navigating the current system.

One such regulation is the Water Management (General) Regulation, which is currently under review.

This remake is the perfect opportunity for the government to support wetland restoration and blue carbon investment in NSW. In the updated regulation, we are calling for:

1. The removal of requirements for retrospective approvals for old drainage infrastructure, prior to their modification or removal for a wetland restoration project.
2. The streamlining of low-risk restoration projects, with exemptions similar to those already present in the regulation – specifically, exemptions for projects that meet certain criteria from requiring flood works, controlled activity works, and drainage works approvals.
3. A 60-day deadline for the approval, or clarification that an exemption applies, for all wetland restoration projects.
4. Where multiple approvals would be required, the regulation should be amended to require only one, singular approval and associated assessment process for all project works.
5. Lodgment fees should be reduced or waived to encourage wetland restoration projects – specifically fees for controlled activity approvals (new approval part 4, new approval part 5, amended approval part 4 or 5) and flood work approvals (new flood works approval, amended flood works approval, extend a flood works approval).

We’d welcome the opportunity to work with you to reduce regulatory barriers to wetland restoration in NSW. Should you wish to discuss this further, please contact Sam Johnson from the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, on 0409 856 951, or at [email protected].

Yours sincerely,

Nature Conservation Council of NSW
Jagun Alliance
OzFish Unlimited
Richmond Riverkeeper
Positive Change for Marine Life
EcoNetwork Port Stephens
Save Our Macleay River