Our History

Watch our short documentary, Voices for Nature, to learn about NCC story within the wider NSW environment movement.

We've been fighting for nature since 1955

Before the Nature Conservation Council of NSW formed more than 70 years ago, nature in this state was pillaged on an industrial scale.

Land clearing was uncontrolled, rainforests were clear-felled, wildlife was being decimated, and mining companies recklessly destroyed our extraordinary wild places. Before NCC, there was no National Parks and Wildlife Service, no Environment Protection Authority, no Land and Environment Court, and no marine parks.

The achievements of the environment movement in NSW over the past seven decades are a tribute to the hard work, vision, and tenacity of the many thousands of people who have had the courage to be a voice for nature.

Timeline

Here is a summary of some of the milestones achieved by the environment movement in NSW. While we were involved in many of these campaigns and victories, we do not claim credit for them. These are the achievements of the collective action of many individuals and organisations working together for a better world.

Year	Milestone
1955	Founded on July 2 at a meeting in Phillip St, Sydney
1957	National Parks Act drafted by NCC National Parks Association of NSW founded
1961	Katoomba and District Wildlife Conservation Society founded (Blue Mountains Conservation Society)
1963	Last Eastern Quoll sighted on mainland Australia
1967	NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act passed, National Parks and Wildlife Service founded
1968	Colong Foundation for Wilderness founded
1970	Campaign to end tax breaks for native vegetation clearing starts
1971	Battle for Kelly's Bush in Hunters Hill starts
1972	Total Environment Centre founded
1973	NSW rainforest wars start (1973-1984)
1974	NSW Environment Centre established
1975	Colong Caves protected
1976	North Coast Environment Council formed
1977	Premier Wran bans sand mining
1979	NCC Bushfire Program starts Battle for Terania Creek Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Land and Environment Court established
1983	Kelly's Bush is saved
1984	Premier Wran bans rainforest logging
1985	NSW Environment Defender’s Office established
1986	Urban bushland protections enacted NSW rainforests inscribed on the World Heritage register
1987	NSW Wilderness Act 1987 NCC acquires its first desktop computer (second-hand from TEC)
1989	Save Jervis Bay campaign begins Eden woodchip mill blockade begins First director of NCC appointed (Haydn Washington)
1991	Environmental Liaison Office formed First marine reserve (Solitary Islands) Chaelundi State Forest Blockade Environment Protection Authority (EPA) established
1994	First NCC Bushfire Conference after bushfires burn out 800,000 hectares Jervis Bay naval base proposal dropped
1995	Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1995 NCC launches its website
1997	NCC representatives appoint to key committees under Rural Fires Act 1997 Marine Parks Act 1997
1999	Regional Forest Agreements 1999-2001 (Eden, north-east, southern)
2000	The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage listing
2001	NCC’s first Regional Environment Conference (Newcastle)
2002	NCC sustainable living program begins (Cool Communities) Campaign against burning native forests for power starts Grey nurse shark campaign begins
2003	Native Vegetation Act 2003
2005	NCC Hotspots program is established Walks Against Warming begin The South East Region Conservation Alliance Inc. (SERCA) is formed
2006	Adopt A Shark program launched NSW Environment Awards launched Campaign to stop Tillegra Dam in the Hunter Valley begins
2007	Grey nurse shark court case (NCC, EDO) 20% of NSW coastal waters protected in marine parks Walk Against Warming attracts 140,000 participants
2008	Musician Jack Johnson promotes Adopt a Shark at Sydney concert
2009	1000 households register for NCC Climate Challenges
2010	River Red Gum Parks declared Government abandons Tillegra Dam proposal
2011	Campaigns for better planning laws begins Climate campaign starts targeting coal and gas projects
2012	NCC Firesticks program begins Better Planning Network established Hunting in national parks proposal Koala listed as vulnerable to extinction in NSW
2013	NSW Planning Bill defeated Hunting in national parks proposal defeated NCC’s Low Income Energy Efficiency Program (NCC) begins Land Water Future is formed
2014	Campaign for Sydney marine park ramps up Campaign to end native forest logging ramps up Government proposes scrapping Native Vegetation Act and Threatened Species Conservation Act
2015	1000 households benefit from NCC Low Income Energy Efficiency Program CSG licences scrapped after community campaigns Campaign for Great Koala Park launched
2016	Government scraps the Native Vegetation Act and Threatened Species Conservation Act
2017	Court victory against NSW Environment Minister, finding the Biodiversity Conservation Act was not legal
2019	Halted remapping and logging of 15,000 hectares of old growth forest
2019-20	Black Summer bushfires impact 5 million hectares of bush, accelerating decline of many threatened species.
2020	Established the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Nature 90 million tonnes of emissions reduced through the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 NSW Clean Energy Roadmap passes parliament with cross-party support
2021	Stopped the reconfiguration of Menindee Lakes Stopped the Angus Place East proposed coal mine destroying wetlands on Newnes Plateau and the Gardens of Stone Hunter Jobs Alliance formed with union and environment groups
2022	Proposed expansion of the biomass exports from Newcastle in NSW is prevented Vales Point coal-fired power station air pollution conditions tightened Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area created Our biggest federal election campaign so far, distributing 15,000 materials across 38 electorates Commenced a world-first legal action to protect rivers and wetlands in the NSW Land & Environment Court First ever NCC Picnic for Nature
2023	The NSW Climate Act passes parliament with cross-party support following years of climate campaigning led in the state by NCC NSW Government announced a moratorium on logging of koala hubs within the GKNP protecting 8000ha of forest from logging ‘Breachwatch’ relaunched, our citizen science program to help hold Forestry Corporation to account Halted destructive dam projects in Wambuul-Macquarie, Peel, and Lachlan River valleys Partnered with other Conservation Councils to found the Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance, representing the four Basin states Coastal Wetlands and Habitat Clearing campaigns are launched
2024	The Forest Alliance NSW is launched Coal fired power station operators must now measure and report on their carbon pollution Vales Point exemption from clean air laws ends Rights of Aboriginal People are now enshrined in the heart of the Federal Water Act, and voluntary water purchases for the environment recommenced in July 2024 from the passing of the Restoring Our Rivers Bill Tabiea campaign is launched – working with the Arab Council of Australia to amplify climate advocacy in the Arab Speaking Background community in Western Sydney
2025	NSW Government announces that the full 176 000 Ha of the proposed Great Koala National Park will be protected from logging.