Contested environments: Biodiversity conservation or license to destroy?

Contested environments: Biodiversity conservation or license to destroy? 

Australia’s legal frameworks for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection are intended to preserve and enhance the nation’s natural and cultural heritage while enabling appropriate forms of urban development and infrastructure. Yet Commonwealth Environmental Protection & Biodiversity Conservation law has been deemed unfit for purpose, while the states pledge ongoing reforms to make land use systems faster and more responsive to enable residential development and major projects.  Key issues include certification and offsetting processes for biodiversity or heritage and whether alternative approaches, from avoiding development altogether to better protecting and enhancing conservation outcomes, are possible. 

Hosted in partnership with the Sydney Environment Institute.  

Panel:  

Rachel Walmsley, Head of Policy & Law Reform, Environmental Defenders Office

Rowena Welsh-Jarrett, Indigenous Heritage Expert, Bila Group

Associate Professor Ed Couzens, Law School, the University of Sydney

Chair: Professor Rosemary Lyster, Climate and Environmental Law, the University of Sydney  

Festival of contested Urbanism 2023

From debates about density to protests over environmental heritage or the loss of public housing, views about cities and urban regions are deeply contested, the 10th Festival of Urbanism will confront these questions through a series of robust panel discussions, podcasts and film events involving researchers, policy makers, industry experts and community leaders across Australia. Please check out other events and catch on-demand recordings or podcasts.