The Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 and the Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020 were both revised on 8th April 2022 to reflect a change in legislative conservation status of the number of flora and fauna species. Of particular note is that koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is now listed as Endangered in Queensland. This brings State-level conservation status of the species in line with the recent Endangered listing at Federal Government level under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC Act). At present, neither State nor Federal Government koala planning policy has been revised to reflect the increased conservation status of the species. Notwithstanding, more stringent controls around koala habitat management should be expected.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us at New Ground should you have any queries around how koala planning provisions could impact your land/development activity.