Biodiversity Reports NSW DA 2026: When Councils Require a BDAR, Test of Significance or Flora and Fauna Assessment

Answer first: A NSW development application needs a Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR) when the proposal clears native vegetation on land mapped on the Biodiversity Values Map, exceeds the area clearing threshold for its minimum lot size, fails the five-part test of significance, or sits in an Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value. Otherwise council may still want a flora and fauna assessment.

By: giantA Pty Ltd · Updated 13 October 2026

What counts as a “biodiversity report” for a NSW DA?

Council checklists use “biodiversity report” loosely. In practice it means one of three documents, and only one has a statutory method and a credit outcome.

Councils may also require a “flora and fauna assessment” under their own DCP controls where the state scheme is not triggered; it is assessed under section 4.15 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 like any other consultant input.

When does a NSW DA legally need a BDAR?

Section 7.7 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) says that if proposed Part 4 development is “likely to significantly affect threatened species”, the DA must be accompanied by a BDAR. Section 7.2 then defines that phrase. A proposal is caught if any one of the following applies:

1. Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value (AOBV). The development is carried out in a declared AOBV. The register of declared areas is on the NSW environment website.
2. Biodiversity Offsets Scheme threshold. The development exceeds the scheme threshold, either because it clears native vegetation (or causes a prescribed impact) on land shown on the Biodiversity Values Map, or because the native vegetation cleared exceeds the area clearing threshold.
3. Test of significance. The development is likely to significantly affect threatened species or ecological communities, or their habitats, according to the test in section 7.3.

The Department’s guidance for councils runs these as three sequential questions; a “yes” at any step means the scheme applies and a BDAR is required. The NSW Application requirements for DAs also ask every applicant to indicate whether the land is critical habitat and whether the development is likely to significantly affect threatened species — so every DA answers this question.

How does the Biodiversity Values Map trigger work?

The Biodiversity Values Map identifies land with high biodiversity value that is particularly sensitive to development and clearing. It is published under Part 7 of the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 and viewed through the Biodiversity Values Map and Threshold Tool.

Key points from the NSW Government guidance:

• Mapping alone is not enough. If the proposal involves no clearing of native vegetation and no prescribed impact (clause 6.1 of the Regulation) on mapped land, the map trigger is not exceeded — but you must still check the area threshold and the test of significance.
• Newly mapped land has a 90-day window. Where values were added within the last 90 days (dark purple), an application lodged inside that window is not treated as exceeding the map threshold. Lodgement counts only once fees are paid.
• Pre-2017 subdivisions. The map threshold does not apply to lots in subdivisions approved before 25 August 2017 in listed urban zones whose purpose is not yet realised — but once a dwelling is built, later works such as a secondary dwelling are not exempt.
• Map reviews and certified land. You can request a review if mapping is wrong, and the scheme does not apply to biodiversity certified land (shown on your planning certificate).

What is the area clearing threshold, and how is it measured?

The second threshold depends on the minimum lot size shown on the LEP lot size map (or the actual lot size where the LEP sets none). If there are several minimum lot sizes, the smallest applies.

Source: Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 cl 7.2, as published by the NSW Government.

Most suburban Sydney lots fall in the first row, so 0.25 ha (2,500 m²) of native vegetation is the number to watch. Two things catch applicants out:

• “Native vegetation” is broad. Under section 60B of the Local Land Services Act 2013 it includes trees, understorey, groundcover and freshwater wetland plants — including native grassland with no trees and planted natives. Exotic groundcover adjustments are limited and never apply to a threatened ecological community.
• The footprint is bigger than the building. The Department’s list includes building envelopes, driveways, sheds, construction storage, temporary tracks, landscaping, utilities, easements, fence lines, effluent areas and the entire asset protection zone. On bushfire-prone land, the APZ in your bushfire (BAL) assessment can push a modest house over the threshold.

The BMAT tool estimates native vegetation extent from a state data layer; where the result is close to the threshold, disputed or “unknown”, the Department provides a method for a formal area clearing review. For subdivisions, clearing needed for the intended use of the new lots is counted at subdivision stage.

What is the test of significance (five-part test)?

For local development below the thresholds, section 7.3 of the BC Act asks whether the proposal is likely to adversely affect the life cycle of a threatened species (placing a viable local population at risk of extinction), the extent or composition of a threatened ecological community, threatened species habitat (removal, fragmentation and its importance in the locality), any declared AOBV, and whether it is or increases a key threatening process.

The test must be applied in accordance with the Threatened Species Test of Significance Guidelines. Department training for councils is blunt: where information is insufficient, apply the precautionary principle and assume a significant effect is likely. A thin, desktop-only test can therefore end in a BDAR request after lodgement.

What if none of the triggers apply?

The DA is assessed under section 4.15 in the usual way, but council still applies LEP and DCP environmental controls and other legislation the Department lists — including the Fisheries Management Act 1994, relevant SEPPs, Aboriginal cultural heritage under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, and the Commonwealth EPBC Act 1999 for matters of national environmental significance (a separate referral process).

Many councils translate this into their own lodgement checklists. Blacktown City Council’s small-scale residential DA checklist is a good example. It asks whether the land is biodiversity certified, then whether the scheme is triggered (BDAR by an accredited assessor), and if not, whether native vegetation that may be habitat for threatened entities such as Cumberland Plain Woodland is affected — in which case a flora and fauna assessment by a suitably qualified ecologist is required. City of Parramatta’s lodgement checklists list a “Biodiversity Assessment Report” as a document that may be required across development types, and Inner West’s DA guide notes that trees likely to support habitat may need assessment by an ecologist under the BC Act.

Who can prepare a BDAR?

Only an assessor accredited under section 6.10 of the BC Act, applying the Biodiversity Assessment Method 2020 (BAM). The Department maintains a Find an accredited assessor search. Check accreditation before you engage anyone — a BDAR from an unaccredited author is not a BDAR.

The BAM includes three streamlined assessment modules that suit many residential and small commercial sites:

• Scattered trees (BAM Appendix B);
• Small area (Appendix C), with clearing-area limits set in the BAM; and
• Planted native vegetation (Appendix D) — street trees, windbreaks, landscaping and revegetation, assessed for threatened species habitat.

A streamlined BDAR must include evidence that the site is eligible for the module used.

What does a BDAR contain, and how does council assess it?

Minimum content is set by BAM Appendix K (Appendix L for streamlined modules): vegetation mapping, threatened species survey, avoid and minimise measures, direct, indirect and prescribed impacts, serious and irreversible impacts (SAII) and the credit calculation. Council must consider the BDAR (s 7.13), and three outcomes matter:

• Serious and irreversible impacts. If council forms the opinion that the development is likely to have a serious and irreversible impact on biodiversity values, it must refuse consent (s 7.16). This is a hard stop, not a merit balance.
• Credit conditions. If consent is granted, conditions must require the applicant to retire the number and class of biodiversity credits specified in the BDAR. Council can increase or reduce that number, but must give reasons.
• Timing. The credit condition must be complied with before any development is carried out that would impact on biodiversity values (s 7.13(5)). Budget for this before construction, not after.

The Department publishes a critical review checklist that councils use to test BDARs. — worth handing to your assessor at briefing.

How are biodiversity credit obligations met?

According to the NSW Government’s credit obligations guidance, a proponent can:

1. retire biodiversity credits generated at their own biodiversity stewardship site or bought on the market;
2. pay into the Biodiversity Conservation Fund, transferring the obligation to the Biodiversity Conservation Trust; or
3. fund a biodiversity conservation action under the ancillary rules (mining projects have a rehabilitation option).

Credit prices vary by class and market, so ask your assessor for an early indication — the liability often decides whether redesigning to avoid clearing is the cheaper path.

Does a complying development certificate (CDC) need a BDAR?

The BDAR lodgement and assessment sections of the BC Act (ss 7.7 and 7.13) expressly exclude applications for a complying development certificate. Complying development instead relies on the development standards and land exclusions in the Codes SEPP. Yet the Department’s map guidance says that where the scheme applies a BDAR is prepared “for development (including complying development)”. Practically, if your site is mapped or involves native vegetation clearing, confirm with your certifier before assuming a CDC is available. Our DA/CDC checklist helps you screen the pathway early.

How does the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan change things in Western Sydney?

In parts of Western Sydney, the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (CPCP) and Chapter 13 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021 apply. The Department’s FAQ sets out the categories:

• Certified–urban capable land: landholders “will not need to seek any further biodiversity approvals”, though other approvals and mitigation controls (such as keeping APZs wholly on certified land) still apply.
• Avoided land and the strategic conservation area: a DA is needed to remove native vegetation, and council must consider threatened species, habitat connectivity and fauna movement (including koalas).

Check the CPCP spatial viewer or the ePlanning viewer for your lot before commissioning any ecology work. For growth-area context in the north-west, see our Blacktown planning updates for October 2026.

What changed with the 2024 Biodiversity Offsets Scheme reforms?

The Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Biodiversity Offsets Scheme) Act 2024 commenced on 7 March 2025, except the “genuine measures” provisions. It embeds the avoid, minimise, offset hierarchy (s 6.3A), moves the scheme towards net positive outcomes, lets the Regulation limit use of the Biodiversity Conservation Fund, and creates public registers, including for SAII decisions.

The Department consulted on draft amendments to the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 from 5 June to 17 July 2026. Until amendments are made the existing thresholds and BAM apply, but the direction is clear: documented avoidance will carry more weight, and paying into the fund may not always be available. Check the reform page for commencement updates before you lodge.

What should you gather before briefing an ecologist?

Department guidance lists what council needs to decide whether the scheme applies. Assemble it first so your ecologist can scope accurately:

• a date-stamped BMAT report for the full development footprint, plus any area clearing review;
• a site plan showing existing vegetation and every component of the development, including construction areas, driveways, services, easements and any APZ — a registered surveyor’s detail survey is the right base;
• the LEP minimum lot size and zoning, and the planning certificate (biodiversity certification, CPCP category);
• your arborist report and tree retention plan, so hollow-bearing and habitat trees are identified consistently;
• any bushfire, stormwater or flood constraints that affect where the footprint can go; and
• the draft landscape plan, because landscaping is part of the footprint and replacement planting supports avoid and minimise arguments.

Take the BMAT result to a pre-DA meeting and ask whether council expects a five-part test, flora and fauna assessment or BDAR, then summarise the outcome in your Statement of Environmental Effects.

Frequently asked questions

Is a flora and fauna assessment the same as a BDAR?

No. A flora and fauna assessment is a general ecological report, often containing a five-part test. A BDAR is a statutory report by an accredited assessor using the BAM, and it calculates the biodiversity credits you must retire.

My block is under 1 ha. How much clearing triggers the scheme?

Clearing 0.25 ha or more of native vegetation. The footprint includes driveways, landscaping, services, easements and any asset protection zone, not just the building.

The BMAT tool says my land is mapped, but I am not removing any vegetation. Do I need a BDAR?

Not on the map trigger alone — it needs clearing of native vegetation or a prescribed impact on mapped land. Still check the area threshold and the five-part test.

Can council refuse a DA even with a BDAR?

Yes. If council considers a serious and irreversible impact is likely, it must refuse. Otherwise it decides the DA on its merits, considering the BDAR.

When do biodiversity credits have to be retired?

Before any development that would impact biodiversity values is carried out — in practice, before clearing or site works — so programme the cost and lead time.

Is my Western Sydney lot covered by the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan?

Check the CPCP spatial viewer or ePlanning viewer. Certified–urban capable land needs no further biodiversity approvals; avoided land and the strategic conservation area carry extra DA controls.

How giantA can help

We design and lodge DAs and CDCs across Greater Sydney and coordinate the consultant package — survey, arborist, bushfire, stormwater, landscape and ecology. We run the BMAT screen on your footprint, test designs that avoid clearing, and brief an accredited assessor or ecologist against your council’s checklist. Start with our DA/CDC checklist, see our services and architectural services, read our guide to NSW tree removal and vegetation clearing laws, or ask giantA via Help.

Preferred sources (verify current versions)

• NSW Environment and Heritage — When the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme applies
• NSW Environment and Heritage — How to use the Biodiversity Values Map
• NSW Environment and Heritage — Biodiversity assessments and calculation of the scheme entry requirements
• DCCEEW — Part 4 local development biodiversity assessment and approval pathway (webinar handout, February 2025)
• Threatened Species Test of Significance Guidelines (2018)
• Guidance for local government on undertaking a critical review of a BDAR
• NSW Environment and Heritage — Credit obligations
• NSW Environment and Heritage — Biodiversity Offsets Scheme reforms
• Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016
• NSW Planning — CPCP planning controls FAQ
• NSW Department of Planning — Application requirements
• Blacktown City Council — Small scale residential DA
• City of Parramatta — Application requirements