All Recommendations

Critical Habitat Protection

To halt the loss of critical and remnant habitat, relevant regulatory controls should be amended to explicitly prohibit the clearing of critical and remnant habitat and ensure these habitats are permanently...

Biodiversity Conservation Act Reform

WA needs a modernised Biodiversity Conservation Act that is based on protection, restoration and enhancement, and grounded in evidence, ambition and purpose. To do this we recommend: conducting the mandated five...

Bioregional Planning

Fully resource and prioritise the development of bioregional plans that identify key biodiversity health indicators, threats and trends, critical habitats, ecologically sensitive areas, culturally important areas and no-go zones to inform...

Environmental Offsets Limits

To guarantee that offsets meaningfully contribute to biodiversity conservation and an absolute gain in habitat, and to avoid being used to justify projects that are otherwise environmentally unacceptable - environmental offsets...

Threatened Species Recovery Plans

To halt the decline of threatened species, ensure full funding and implementation of strong, enforceable Recovery Plans for all threatened species and ecological communities in WA, updated at least every five...

Fund Nature Conservation

Deliver a step change in biodiversity funding consistent with halting and reversing biodiversity loss in WA to maintain the environmental assets that Western Australian communities and industries depend on.

Biodiversity Strategy

Develop and implement an ambitious biodiversity strategy with measurable targets and strong environmental standards to protect and restore WA’s terrestrial and marine ecosystems, consistent with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Caring for Country

Incorporate Aboriginal cultural and ecological knowledge into biodiversity strategies, bioregional plans, environmental assessments, and decision making. Strengthen the integration of Aboriginal land management knowledge and practices into mainstream land, water, and...

Strategic Advice

Prioritise and fully fund the EPA to conduct assessments and produce strategic advice in response to development pressures across WA’s bioregions. This could include: identifying areas where Strategic Advice will advance...

Aboriginal Ranger Programs

Expand and guarantee funding and support for Aboriginal Ranger Programs for all crown land: Develop policy to align commonwealth and state funded ranger programs to deliver effective and coordinated outcomes across...

National Parks Management

Implement joint-management arrangements for National Parks and other conservation land categories through: CALM Act amendments to allow sole vesting with Aboriginal Corporations; and Developing a policy for the Land Administration Act...

Private and Community Conservation Programs

Create incentives for private landholders to protect and restore native vegetation through grants and/or state supported covenanting and stewardship arrangements. Support and build community conservation groups with long-term funding to scale-up...

Prescribed Burning

Revise DBCA’s Southwest fire management strategy to prioritise rapid bushfire detection and suppression and only carefully applied burns in strategic locations at appropriate times, instead of large-scale frequent burning. Fire-sensitive species...

Project Filtering

Enable early filtering of flawed or inappropriately sited proposals by relevant agencies to provide quick advice that a proposal is unlikely to be environmentally acceptable using the following two-tiered approach: (i)...

Ecological Restoration and Resilience

Commit to strengthened regulatory controls, entailing improved stakeholder consultation, inclusive knowledge systems, responsive approaches and increased funding to support the restoration of ecosystems and ecological health, to build resilience in the...

Environmental Impact Assessments

Adopt best practice in EIA, including: establishment of robust guidelines with evidence-based thresholds for determining the level of assessment for referred projects, guided by robust environmental protection criteria; quickly identifying and...

Climate Impacts

To minimise the effects of climate change, all Environmental Impact Assessments conducted by the EPA should assess greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) against a carbon budget for 1.5 degrees. In alignment with...

Cumulative Impact Assessments

Strengthen WA’s environmental laws and processes to ensure cumulative impacts are properly and comprehensively assessed through the use of best-practice environmental controls and enforcement (see Recommendation 2 under ‘Adopt a Bioregional...

Office of the Auditor General Recommendations

Implement the recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor General* and supported by DWER, including recommendations to: develop and document a risk-based approach to the monitoring of compliance with water...

Rights in Water and Irrigation Act Reform

Reform the Rights in Water and Irrigation (RIWI) Act 1914 to make it consistent with the National Water Initiative (soon to be the National Water Agreement) by legislating a new Water...

Water Planning

Improve Water Resource Planning by: developing, updating and implementing stronger, evidence-based water allocation plans for every catchment area in WA where there are multiple users and pressures; conducting regional groundwater studies...

Safe Drinking Water

Ensure safe drinking water for all Western Australians; improve testing of water quality in remote Aboriginal communities and remedial actions to ensure communities have clean, safe drinking water at all times;...

Protect Cultural Heritage

In consultation with Traditional Owners and Aboriginal representative groups, develop new legislation to better and proactively protect Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and require Aboriginal peoples’ free, prior and informed consent for all...

State of the Environment Reporting

Fund and establish a legal requirement for the EPA to undertake State of the Environment reporting, mandated on a two-year cycle and enshrined in the EP Act. Require reports to be...

Biodiversity Audits

Require DBCA to conduct and publish Biodiversity Audits every two years. To deliver this DBCA should: establish a dedicated team to carry out ongoing data collection and reporting to inform audits;...

Monitoring and Compliance

Improve monitoring and compliance across the state by: prioritising monitoring and compliance activities and programs with a focus on illegal clearing, breaches of approval conditions or licences, including water licences; establishing...

Mine Rehabilitation and Environmental Compliance

Strengthen mine rehabilitation regulation and environmental compliance, monitoring and enforcement. Review and implement outstanding recommendations made in the 2004,2011 and 2014 Auditor General's reports on ensuring compliance with mine conditions. Fully...