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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Lisa Cox

NSW failed to monitor offsets while endangered ecosystems were cleared for western Sydney homes

Newly developed land and houses in Sydney’s west
The missing conservation reports are for a planning scheme that was designed to guide more than 30 years of housing development in Sydney’s west. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

The New South Wales environment department stopped monitoring and reporting on a $530m conservation program meant to compensate for swathes of land-clearing at the same time as its management of biodiversity offset schemes was under investigation, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Conservationists and the NSW Greens say the government must investigate the “startling failure” by the department to report on progress towards meeting the conservation offset requirements for new suburb developments in western Sydney.

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