History of land clearing controls

Native vegetation clearing has been controlled on pastoral land and within the Litchfield Shire since 1992.

The NT Government introduced native vegetation clearing controls to the remaining freehold and crown land, outside the existing planning control areas in December 2002 through Interim Development Control Order (IDCO) No. 12.

Following a 2-year period of consultation and development, the IDCO was replaced with permanent controls under the Planning Act 1999.

Year	Event
1990	Clearing controls introduced within Namarada (Dundee Beach) planning area including requiring permits where clearing greater than 50% of a parcel and to clear mangroves.
1992	Clearing controls applied to the Pastoral Land Act 1992. NT Pastoral Land Clearing Guidelines introduced.
1992	Clearing controls introduced to the Planning Act 1993 with the '50% rule' introduced in the Litchfield Shire Area Plan – permits required where greater than 50% of a parcel proposed to be cleared.
2002	February – introduction of the Land Clearing Guidelines for freehold land.
2002	December – clearing controls introduced under the Planning Act 1999 for unzoned land by IDCO No. 12 – permits required to clear greater than 1ha of native vegetation on a single property. Learn more on the Territory Stories website.
2003	November – clearing moratorium declared in the Daly River region affecting freehold and pastoral leases.
2003	Introduction of clearing controls for mangroves in conservation zones.
2004	May – '50% rule' changed to 'greater than 1ha' rule in the Litchfield Area Plan for zoned land in Litchfield Shire – permits required where more than 1ha proposed to be cleared on a parcel, in certain zones, and for any clearing in a conservation zone.
2004	November – IDCO No. 12 becomes permanent in the NT Planning Scheme (NTPS) affecting unzoned land.
2007	Land Clearing Guidelines updated and incorporated into the NTPS.
2007	February – release of NTPS 2007, a consolidated NT wide planning scheme, requiring permits for clearing greater than 1ha in aggregate on a single property within zones H, A, RR, RL, R, CP, CN, RD and WM and unzoned land.
2007	December – Daly River region clearing moratorium extended with an emphasis on water allocation planning.
2008	March – clearing moratorium in the Daly River region formalised by IDCO No. 17.
2010	March – IDCO No. 17 expires.
2010	Land Clearing Guidelines updated including provisions for the Daly River catchment. NT Pastoral Land Clearing Guidelines updated.
2019	Land Clearing Guidelines updated to apply a risk-based assessment approach for land clearing and increase the threshold to refer proposals to the NT EPA from 200ha to 5000ha.
2020	Release of NTPS 2020, with land clearing controls becoming an 'Overlay'.
2021	Land Clearing Guidelines updated in relation to boundary buffers.
2024	Land Clearing Guidelines updated in relation to low value wetlands.
2026	Land Clearing Guidelines updated to reflect amendments to Clause 3.2 – CNV Clearing of Native Vegetation Overlay and Schedule 2 (Definitions) of the NTPS.

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