Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00555:body:0:p18
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00555
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 49021–52098

the Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs). IFOAs integrate the regulatory regimes for environmental planning and assessment, protection of the environment and threatened species conservation and include specific provisions for the identification and protection of Koala habitat.
The BC Act, Local Land Services Act 2013 and State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017 establish the regulatory framework for managing impacts to native vegetation in New South Wales.

ACT Government
The Australian Capital Territory lies within more marginal habitat for the listed Koala, and although currently there are no known extant populations, populations existed in the past (section 21.6). In 2019, the Koala was listed as Vulnerable under the ACT Government's Nature Conservation Act 2014, and a Conservation Advice notified (ACT Scientific Committee 2019). The ACT Government continues to liaise with the NSW Government in relation to populations and potential habitat along the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory borders.

Queensland Government
Despite protection measures to date in Queensland, an independent review determined that the decline in peri-urban Koala populations in the Koala Coast and Pine Rivers areas of South East Queensland showed no evidence of slowing, and may even be increasing (Rhodes et al. 2015). These declines were linked to ongoing habitat loss in South East Queensland resulting from increasing urbanisation as well as other threats, such as dog attacks, disease and road mortality associated with development. These causes for decline have been the driver for an increase in the extent and level of protection of Koala habitat and other management actions for Koala conservation in South East Queensland.
The introduction of amendments to the Koala conservation planning framework in 2020 has resulted in the strongest Koala habitat protections Queensland has ever seen. This framework provides increased protection for Koala habitat in South East Queensland by increasing both the size and level of protections for Koala habitat areas compared with the state's previous regulatory framework. Koala habitat areas (including both core Koala habitat areas (KHA) and locally refined Koala habitat areas (LRKHA)) now cover 714,040 ha of land across South East Queensland. Of this, 332,278 ha, including 10,012 ha within the South East Queensland Urban Footprint, falls within Koala priority areas in which the clearing of Koala habitat areas is prohibited by the Queensland Government, subject to certain exemptions. These exemptions balance protecting Koala habitat with the need to allow clearing for limited development such as essential services.
The new planning protections introduced by the Queensland Government are supported by state-of-the-art Koala habitat mapping using advanced modelling techniques. The new methodology was endorsed by the Koala Expert Panel and independently reviewed by the CSIRO. The mapped Koala habitat represents the best habitat for Koalas, based on the combination