The Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (the CPCP) is one of the largest strategic conservation plans to be undertaken in Australia and provides biodiversity approvals to enable new housing, jobs and infrastructure in the Western Parkland City. The CPCP will offset impacts to native vegetation from new development by protecting important biodiversity through a network of private and public conservation land across Western Sydney edited.
Western Sydney offers rich biodiversity, a unique selection of flora and fauna, in essence a woodland unlike anywhere else in the world. The CPCP will support the delivery of around 73,000 homes and four major transport corridors while also protecting the endangered Cumberland Plain Woodland as well enhancing landscape connectivity across Western Sydney. The CPCP is also the first strategic biodiversity certification to be undertaken under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act).
The CPCP includes specific commitments and actions to protect the Southern Sydney koala population by addressing the impacts and potential risks to koalas from future development in the Wilton and Greater Macarthur growth areas. These commitments and actions were developed based on advice from the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer (2020 and 2021) and support implementation of the NSW Koala Strategy (2022).
The CPCP commits to establishing the Georges River Koala Reserve east of Appin Road from Appin through to Long Point. This reserve will protect existing koala habitat and enhance the connectivity of fragmented patches of koala habitat through restoration.
The NSW Government has committed $114 million in the first 5 years of the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan for early implementation actions. Some of these actions have a strong focus on koalas, including:
- establishing new reserves and biodiversity stewardship sites to protect important koala habitat, including the 1830 hectares Georges River Koala Reserve
- restoring up to 80 hectares of koala habitat within the Georges River Koala Reserve
- installing koala exclusion fencing and constructing two fauna crossings to allow movement across Appin Road.
Further information is provided in the Fact sheet on protecting koalas on the Cumberland Plain or the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan website.
You may also be interested in
