The ''Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016'' (''BC Act'') is a state-based act of parliament in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(NSW). Its

long title In certain jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions (such as Canada or Australia), as well as the United States and the Philippines, primary legislation has both a short title and a long title. The ...

is ''An Act relating to the conservation of biodiversity; and to repeal the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, the Nature Conservation Trust Act 2001 and the animal and plant provisions of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974''. It supersedes the ''

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 The ''Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act)'' was enacted by the Parliament of New South Wales in 1995 to protect threatened species, populations and ecological communities in NSW. In 2016 it was replaced by the '' Biodiversity Con ...

'', and commenced on 25 August 2017. The purpose of the Act was to effect

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

reform in New South Wales, in particular to provide better environmental outcomes and reduce burdensome regulations. The Act lists many more purposes under the rubric of "ecologically sustainable development" than the former Act, and specifically mentions "biodiversity conservation in the context of a changing climate". and since mid-2019, the BC Act is administered by the NSW

Department of Planning, Industry and Environment The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) was a government department, department of the Government of New South Wales, New South Wales Government, responsible for effective and sustainable planning to support the growth i ...

Threatened Species Scientific Committee

Division 7 of Part 4 of the BC Act established the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, which can provide advice to declare species, populations, and ecological communities as endangered. Under the ''Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016'', the Scientific Committee has declared various threatened species including the alpine she-oak skink (''

Cyclodomorphus praealtus The alpine she-oak slender bluetongue or alpine she-oak skink (''Cyclodomorphus praealtus'') is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Australian Alps The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southe ...

'') and the alpine tree frog (''

Litoria verreauxii The whistling tree frog (''Litoria verreauxii''), or Verreaux's tree frog, is a species of frog found in Australia. It has been divided into two subspecies, the nominate Verreaux's tree frog (''L. v. verreauxii'') and the Verreaux's alpine tr ...

alpina''),Scientific Committee. 2016
Index to NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee: Index to Final Determinations – 1996 –2018.
Retrieved 1 September 2018 while the Scientific Committee has determined "Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub" to be a critically endangered ecological community.Scientific Committee. 201
Preliminary Determination: Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub.
Retrieved 1 September 2018. The main functions of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee include: Text was copied from this source, which is available under
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
/ref> * Assessing the risk of extinction of a species in Australia and deciding which species should be listed as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or extinct in NSW; * For species that are not listed as threatened species, deciding if there are populations of those species that should be listed as threatened in NSW; * Assessing the risk of extinction of an ecological community in Australia and deciding which ecological communities should be listed as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or collapsed ecological communities; * Deciding which key threats to native plants and animals should be declared key threatening processes under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act); and * Reviewing and updating the lists of threatened species, populations and communities and key threatening processes in the schedules of the BC Act.

References

External links

*{{cite web , title=Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (As at 15 May 2020 - Act 63 of 2016) , website=Australasian Legal Information Institute (AustLII) , date=25 March 2021, url=http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/bca2016309/ New South Wales legislation Nature conservation in Australia Environmental law in Australia Environment of Australian Capital Territory 2016 in Australian law 2016 establishments in Australia 2016 in the environment