Key points
- NSW conservation focuses on protecting biodiversity through protected areas, habitat restoration, species recovery, and sustainable management.
- Key conservation goals include expanding protected areas, preventing extinctions, improving conservation on private land, and reforming biodiversity offsets.
- Climate change amplifies existing threats to biodiversity by changing habitat conditions and shifting where species and ecosystems can persist, and it causes more extreme events such as bushfires.
- Traditional conservation methods such as fixed protected areas are becoming less effective, and species translocation may become increasingly important.
- NSW conservation efforts need to build ecosystem resilience by expanding protected areas, connecting and restoring habitats, reducing other stressors such as pests and disease, and using climate‑responsive planning.
The importance of conservation in NSW
Conservation refers to the strategies and actions aimed at protecting and preserving NSW’s biodiversity. This can involve a range of activities including establishment of protected areas, habitat restoration, species recovery programs and sustainable ecosystem management.
Conservation practices are critical for addressing biodiversity declines across NSW. The NSW Biodiversity Outlook Report 2024 indicates that coordinated conservation actions are needed to strengthen habitat protection and restoration, mitigate climate change impacts, control invasive species and develop fire management strategies that support ecological resilience.
Guided by the latest government frameworks and strategies, NSW aims to achieve the following conservation goals:
- Expand protected areas from 10% of the state to a minimum of 30% of all terrestrial and marine bioregions by 2030.
- Zero extinctions of threatened species in parks by 2030.
- Support conservation on private lands.
- Reform offsets to achieve net positive biodiversity outcomes.
How conservation is affected by climate change in NSW
Climate change is an increasing threat to biodiversity in NSW and is expected to exacerbate existing pressures, such as habitat loss, land clearing and invasive species, while introducing new challenges that could significantly affect biodiversity across the state over the next 50 years.
Climate change is driving shifts in species’ ranges, life cycles, and ecosystem processes. While some species may adapt or move to new areas, others face a higher extinction risk due to limited ability to adjust or disperse. More frequent extreme events, such as bushfires, floods, and heatwaves, further damage habitats, disrupt ecosystems, and accelerate the spread of pests and disease.
Some conservation methods work on the assumption that environments remain relatively stable but with unpredictable environmental changes expected under climate change, these methods may become less effective. This is especially true for protected areas, where changing conditions may mean that the species they were designed to protect can no longer survive there.
Adapting to changes in conservation in NSW
Conservation efforts in NSW must respond to climate change by strengthening ecosystem resilience. While climate change impacts cannot be fully avoided, well‑designed adaptation actions can improve outcomes for biodiversity and reduce the severity of losses. Key approaches include expanding protected areas, improving habitat connectivity, restoring degraded ecosystems, reducing existing stressors, and adopting planning approaches that can adjust to changing conditions. Expansion of the protected area network should prioritise climate refugia, habitat corridors, and areas that enable species movement as environmental conditions change.
Conservation on private land, ecological restoration and biodiversity offsets will also need to assess climate change risks and use adaptive management to remain effective. As species come under increasing pressure, conservation translocation—already identified as important for over 150 NSW species—may become increasingly valuable, with genetic diversity remaining essential for long‑term resilience.
More broadly, the NSW Government is taking action on climate change through multiple pathways, including the Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023, the NSW Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and the NSW Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan 2025–2029.
Further detailed adaptation guidance for people managing conservation can be found on the Climate-adapted conservation practices page.
Related information
Saving our Species - NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment
Conservation and heritage - NSW National parks
About biodiversity - NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment
Climate change and biodiversity - Australian Academy of Science
Case studies
The Yass Area Network of Landcare Groups is is using the Restore and Renew webtool to guide seed selection for their Climate Ready Revegetation Project.
The Restore and Renew webtool provides simple, science-backed guidance to improve restoration projects across New South Wales. In the Hunter Valley, it is helping to rebuild climate-ready, genetically diverse populations of the River Red Gum.
A community-led exhibition in Lismore challenged human-centred worldviews and revealed how Indigenous Knowledges can guide climate adaptation in profoundly different and powerful ways.