Avoid and minimise impacts on native vegetation (Mitigation Hierarchy)
When clearing native vegetation, there’s a clear expectation to reduce environmental impacts as much as possible. This is known as the Mitigation Hierarchy.
Whether you’re applying under the Regulations or the Act, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have planned your activity in the following order of importance:
The Mitigation Hierarchy
Avoid | Avoid impacts on native vegetation. This must be the first step in your planning. It includes planning to place infrastructure, buildings or other assets in a way that completely avoids impacts to biodiversity. |
Minimise | Minimise the duration, intensity and/or extent of impacts on native vegetation (including direct, indirect and cumulative impacts), if clearance cannot be avoided. |
Rehabilitate or restore | Rehabilitate or restore ecosystems that have been degraded at the site of clearance, if adverse impacts cannot be minimised or avoided. |
Offset | Offset to compensate for any significant residual adverse impacts that cannot be otherwise avoided, minimised and/or rehabilitated or restored, so that there is no net loss of biodiversity. Providing a Significant Environmental Benefit (SEB) offset is a requirement under the Regulations and under the Act for activities that require a risk assessment. |
You must apply the Mitigation Hierarchy as part of any activity to clear native vegetation under the Regulations. For further information, see the Fact Sheet - Mitigation Hierarchy.
Data Reports prepared by Accredited Consultants must clearly address each of the levels of the Mitigation Hierarchy.
Activities requiring a risk assessment
For activities that require the Native Vegetation Council to undertake a risk assessment, you must be able to demonstrate the measures you have taken during the planning stage to avoid or minimise the impacts of your activity.
If, for example, you are not able to avoid clearance, you must be able to explain why, and how you will minimise or offset the impacts, or rehabilitate native vegetation elsewhere.
For detailed information see the Guide for applications to clear native vegetation under the Native Vegetation Act 1991 and Native Vegetation Regulations 2017.
