For nine years, landholders, conservationists and regulators have been making guesses as to how they should be managing land across NSW. This week, certainty was provided when the NSW Government finalised the Native Vegetation Regulatory Map (NVR map), which clarifies how land should be protected or when it can be cleared. This was an important milestone for nature protection, but the state’s land management framework needs significant reform to protect and restore biodiversity and reduce the stubbornly high rates of land clearing in NSW.

Native Vegetation Regulatory map finalised 

On 31 August 2026, the NSW Government finalised the NVR map, ending the transitional period that has been in place since 2017.  

The NVR map is a fundamental component of the NSW land management framework – it is the critical mechanism for categorising land across the state to determine where and how vegetation clearing can occur. 1  Vegetation clearing may require different levels of assessment and approval depending on how land is categorised. However, for the past nine years the map has remained unfinished, and landholders have been forced to ‘self-categorise’ unmapped land in accordance with transitional arrangements. This has created uncertainty about whether land clearing rules have been properly applied and enforced. It’s possible land has been cleared in this time that should have been protected.  

EDO has consistently recommended that the NVR map be finalised and welcomes this important development in nature protection in NSW. The map will provide certainty for landholders, the public and regulators by confirming which regulatory pathway applies to different land across the state (with the exception of Bland and Temora local government areas, which will remain under transitional arrangements).  

Under the Local Land Services Act (LLS Act), a landholder may request a review of land on the NVR map in circumstances where they consider the land has been incorrectly categorised.2  

New Local Land Services Regulation 2026 commences 

The NSW Government has also made the Local Land Services Regulation 2026 (LLS Regulation 2026), replacing the Local Land Services Regulation 2014. Regulations relating to native vegetation clearing provisions have been redrafted under Part 6 of the LLS Regulation 2026. The NSW Government has said that despite redrafting, changes to policy intent are minor.3 Notably, the government has: 

  • removed provisions in the Regulation that create an offence for contravening certain requirements of approvals, certificates or code (for native vegetation clearing) stating that section 60N of the LLS Act prohibits the same conduct; and  
  • removed provisions allowing the Native Vegetation Panel (NVP), with the approval of the Minister, to engage consultants as it requires to exercise its functions, stating that this provision is not required because the NVP is able to engage consultants as a NSW Government agency. 

The land management framework in the LLS Act otherwise remains unchanged. EDO has ongoing concerns that the framework more broadly is failing to provide adequate protection for native vegetation, evidenced by recent data confirming that vegetation clearing rates remain high.4 This is despite the Minn’s Government’s commitment to end excess land clearing.5 More work is needed to identify and protect high value areas and support landholders in their important role as environmental stewards. 

Ongoing government work 

Over the past 14 months the NSW Government has undertaken specific pieces of work as committed in the NSW Plan for Nature: 

  • In June and July 2025, the NSW Government consulted on proposed amendments to the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018. The proposed changes are intended to implement some (but not all) of the commitments in the NSW Plan for Nature made in response to the findings of the 5-year statutory review of the native vegetation provisions of the LLS Act. You can read EDO’s submission to the proposed changes here. The proposed changes have not yet been made. 
  • The NSW Government commissioned the NSW Natural Resources Commission (NRC) to provide advice on:
    • policy options to strengthen the management and protection of widespread Critically Endangered Ecological Communities;
    • policy options to improve outcomes for areas containing exclusively or predominantly non‑woody vegetation; and  
    • options to further protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystem functions in regional landscapes, and to enhance value and support for landholders. 

The NRC has provided the government with its reports, but the government is yet to publicly respond. 

EDO recommendations for protecting biodiversity and supporting landholders 

Despite the government’s decision to finalise the NVR map, there is more work to be done in overhauling the NSW land management framework to protect and restore biodiversity and support landholders as environmental stewards, consistent with the NSW Government’s commitment to end excess land clearing and set nature on a path to recovery. 

EDO has a long history of advocating for strong laws for nature and communities, including reform of the NSW land management framework. Most recently, we set out our key recommendations in our submission to the NSW NRC’s review into protecting biodiversity and enhancing value for landholders. You can read our submission here. 

In summary, EDO recommends: 

  • reinstating a ban on broadscale land clearing;  
  • requiring vegetation clearing to achieve net positive outcomes; 
  • setting appropriate assessment pathways; 
  • protecting areas of high conservation value; 
  • recognising the biodiversity value of regrowth vegetation; 
  • providing incentives for landholders to conserve and restore landscapes; 
  • addressing cumulative impacts; and 
  • better embedding climate change considerations into decision-making. 

As the government’s work continues, EDO will continue to advocate for strong laws that protect and restore biodiversity and support people across NSW to look after our important natural landscapes.   

[1] More information about the Native Vegetation Regulatory map is available on the NSW Government’s website. 

[2] More information about the map review process is available on the NSW Government’s website. 

[3] Further information about the Local Land Services Regulation 2026 is available on the Government’s website. 

[4] The Guardian, ‘Almost 90 football fields of woody habitat were bulldozed every day in NSW – despite pledges to rein it in’, 21 July 2026 

[5] NSW Government, ‘NSW plan for nature puts biodiversity protections, and landholder support front and centre’, 17 July 2024