Queensland's vegetation management framework comprises legislation, a state policy and regional codes.

Legislation

Vegetation management is regulated through the Vegetation Management Act 1999 (VMA) and the Integrated Planning Act 1997. Copies of the revised acts can be obtained from the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel.

State Policy

The State Policy for Vegetation Management (PDF, 29 kB)* has been updated to reflect the revised regional vegetation management codes.  On 16 November 2006, the Govenor in Council approved the amended policy—which was previously approved on 20 May 2004.

The policy documents the Queensland Government's policy on vegetation management—defining the principles that underlie the policy, its desired outcomes, and how these will be achieved. The aims of the policy are to ensure:

• the conservation of biodiversity
• the maintainence of ecological processes
• that clearing does not cause land degradation
• the management of the environmental effects of clearing
• the reduction of greenhouse gases
• balanced decision-making
• supporting regional communities. 

Regional vegetation management codes

The department assesses applications to clear vegetation against regional vegetation management codes. Four codes based on bioregional areas cover all areas of the state.

Offsets policy

The Director General of Natural Resources and Water has approved a new policy for vegetation management offsets (PDF, 208 kB)*.  This new policy came into effect on 23 August 2007, and was amended on 28 September 2007 to correct minor errors.

This policy applies to an offset proposed to meet a performance requirement under a regional vegetation management code.

The previous offset policy is now superseded.

Contact information

If you have problems downloading any of these documents, or would like a copy mailed to you, please contact:

 

Central West Region

• Phone 4938 4615  (Rockhampton)

North Region

• Phone 4799 7126  (Townsville)

South East Region

• Phone 4131 5754  (Bundaberg)
• Phone 5480 5333  (Gympie)
• Phone 3884 5328  (Ipswich)

South West Region

• Phone 4688 1098 (Toowoomba)

Map depicting the boundaries of each region, and full service centre directory.

For email enquiries, please  email VM Enquiries.

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