Restoring nature and enhancing value for landholders

• Terms of Reference (Options to further protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystem functions in regional landscapes, and enhance value and support for landholders)

The Premier, at the request of the Minister for Agriculture, has asked the Commission to advise on options to further protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystem functions in regional landscapes, and enhance value and support for landholders. An advisory panel will support the Commission.

The review is to consider these matters on private rural land, with reference to the Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018, the Local Land Services Regulation 2014 and Schedule 5A of the LLS Act. Other settings as relate to private land conservation in rural landscapes can be considered if required.

We will deliver our report to the Government in 2026.

Progress update

For this review, we have:

• sought and analysed public submissions
• met stakeholders to discuss issues
• engaged relevant agencies including data and information requests
• undertook field visits to discuss issues with landholders and agencies
• met the advisory panel to seek advice on issues and test analysis.

Landholder roundtable

• Summary of discussison (December 2025)

We hosted three regional roundtables in Wagga Wagga, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour to hear from landholders about the risks and opportunties to protect and restore nature on their farming enterprise. We also sought to understand the existing and potential support and incentives landholder need to manage their land for productive and sustainable outcomes.

Over 40 landholders from surrounding regions attended the roundtables.

We thank participants for providing their valuable time and sharing their insights. We also thank the NSW Farmers Association for support in organising the roundtables.

Public submissions

The Commission called for public submissions via the Have Your Say website up to May 2025. The Have Your Say consultation provided an opportunity for stakeholders to provide comments including on the terms-of-reference for the review via an online survey, email or postal submission.

A total of 91 submissions were received.

• A summary of submissions can be found here.
• Individual submissions can be found here.

Submissions are published in line with our submission policy.

The Advisory Panel and Commission continue to consider the community submissions in its work to develop options.

Advisory panel

We have established an advisory panel to support our review.

Panel members include:

• Dr Allan Lindsay Curtis AM, Social scientist (retired research professor, Charles Sturt University) and farmer
• Ms Bronwyn Petrie, Chair Conservation and Resource Management Committee, NSW Farmers Association
• Mr James Trezise, Director, Biodiversity Council
• Professor Martine Maron, Professor of Environmental Management, The University of Queensland
• Mr Oliver Costello, Executive Director, Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation
• Mr Bryce Wilde (Chair) - Executive Director, Natural Resources Commission.

Stay tuned

You can find updated information on this webpage as our review progresses. If you would like to receive updates regarding this work via email, you can sign up to our mailing list.