20 December 2019
Tinkering with the koala SEPP will not save the species
Changes to the NSW koala planning policy announced today improve a relatively ineffectual planning instrument, but they fall well short of what is required to protect the species.
The new State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019 [1] clarifies the definition of core koala habitat and increase increases the number of tree species that can be used to identify koala habitat from 10 to 123.
“These changes are positive but local councils still under no obligation to develop koalas plans of management,” Nature Conservation Council Nature Campaigner Shirley Hall said.
“Only a handful of the 88 councils in NSW identified as needing koala plans of management have developed them to a standard acceptable to the state government since the original koala SEPP was created in 1995.
“Part of the problem is that some councils are hostile to koala conservation. Others simply lack the resources to create the plan.
“The cost of KPOMs varies but are in the order of $150,000. The government could facilitate the develop KPOMs for the whole state for a little more than $12 million, a fraction of the cost of the Sydney Football Stadium redevelopment that is costing taxpayers $2.3 billion.
“If the NSW Government is serious about koala conservation, it should make the development of koala plans of management compulsory for all identified regions and ensure all councils have the resources they need to implement them.
“Ninety-nine per cent of identified koala habitat on private land in NSW was risk of being cleared before these changes and that remains the case.”
[1] State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019 https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/EPIs/2019-658.pdf
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Forests and wildlife
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