NSW biodiversity outlook report 2024

Biodiversity is in decline in New South Wales.

The NSW biodiversity outlook report 2024 is now available and shows that biodiversity is on the decline in New South Wales.

The report highlights habitat loss as the key pressure on biodiversity across the state. It also shows that the black summer fires of 2019–20 have contributed significantly to recent declines.

There are several key findings in the report:

• only 50% of threatened species are expected to survive the next 100 years
• only 29% of the capacity of habitat to support native species remains
• past habitat loss and future climate change will significantly reduce the capacity of landscapes to retain biodiversity over the next 50 years
• for the first time, land permanently secured for conservation has exceeded 10% of the state, increasing from 8.6% in 2007 to 11.2% in 2023.

What does the report cover?

The NSW biodiversity report 2024 spans the period 2007 to 2023. The report covers the status of biodiversity and ecological integrity in New South Wales and is based on a world-leading, peer-reviewed scientific process.

The report, based on findings across 13 indicators, is unique in its scale and provides crucial information that can help inform our response to the biodiversity crisis.

How the report and program is evolving

New indicators for community appreciation, invasive species, conservation areas and climate resilience have been included in 2024 as part of the evolution of the report.

This is the second biodiversity outlook report, the first being published in 2020. It is important to note that it is not possible to do a like-for-like comparison between the 2024 and 2020 reports as the way the data has been collected has changed as new technologies and methods have become available. This has been included in the program design to ensure that the outlook report is based on the best available data whenever it is published.

Find out more about the Biodiversity Indicator Program

To download the NSW biodiversity outlook report 2024 or to learn more about the Biodiversity Indicator Program on which the report is based, go to the Biodiversity Indicator Program webpage.