Unallocated clearing is vegetation clearing for which the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has not been able to identify a formal authorisation or is unable to presume authorised or allowable using visual cues in the imagery.
Unallocated vegetation clearing includes:
- lawful vegetation clearing on Category 2 regulated land that does not require an approval, notification and/or keeping of records
- vegetation clearing for which the department does not have access to information or spatial records that authorise, explain or allocate the clearing to a particular land management activity
- areas of vegetation that have been cleared unlawfully or are not fully compliant with approvals.
How unallocated clearing is identified
Areas of vegetation clearing detected from satellite imagery are compared with known clearing approvals, such as Land Management (Native Vegetation) Code 2018 notifications, certifications and forestry approvals. These, and clearing events identified as authorised activities using visual cues, are excluded from unallocated clearing.
Clearing events identified as authorised activities include some allowable activities under the Local Land Services Act 2013 (LLS Act); for example, long straight lines along fences, farm tracks or around farm buildings. However, no analysis of the characteristics of these activities have been undertaken to ensure they align with the specifications under the Act.
The department is responsible for mapping the clearing of native vegetation and compliance under the LLS Act. Since the introduction of Part 5A of the LLS Act, unallocated clearing has been reported on Category 2 regulated land. Land categorised as Category 1 – exempt does not require any approval.
Clearing of native vegetation in other parts of the state, such as urban areas and land zoned for environmental protection, is regulated under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity & Conservation) 2021, formerly State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017. Local councils usually provide authorisations for clearing on these areas.
What happens to areas of unallocated clearing?
The department applies a risk management approach to unallocated clearing that considers the area of vegetation change on a property, the nature of the vegetation impacted and the potential sources of clearing authorisation that are not spatially recorded or are only available to the government on request.
The Local Land Services Act includes low-risk routine farming activities called allowable activities that support maintaining infrastructure and other day-to-day activities required to run a farming enterprise. Some areas of lawful clearing can only be determined if a landholder provides additional information, such as information about the history of land management or application of allowable activities.
Areas of clearing that cannot be explained may be investigated further by a compliance team. All investigations are undertaken in accordance with department compliance policies. If unlawful clearing is found, the department will select an appropriate outcome based on environmental, social and regulatory considerations. All significant outcomes are reviewed by an expert advisory committee.
Why can't areas of unallocated clearing be identified as authorised?
Not all clearing has an approval record that can be matched against clearing identified from satellite imagery.
A proportion of the unallocated non woody clearing would be associated with landholder self-assessment of groundcover categorisation. The landholder is required to keep appropriate records of this self-assessment.
Unallocated clearing may also be associated with landholder use of allowable activity provisions, where no prior authorisation is required to manage vegetation for routine farm management activities. These provisions are undertaken at the discretion of the landholder, but do have to meet certain prescriptions.
Landholders are not required to keep records or tell government departments when they are undertaking an allowable activity. However, Local Land Services is required to publicly report annually on estimated rates of clearing resulting from allowable activities.
Under Part 4 (Continuing Use) in the Land Management Code, clearing of some native vegetation regrown since 1990 can be undertaken without needing to notify Local Land Services or obtain a certificate. As a result, no records can be used to explain detected clearing of regrowth.