As we celebrate World Environment Day, Transport recognises that restoration is key to fighting biodiversity loss and climate change around the world. Our revegetation initiatives, spanning from rainforest to urban areas, demonstrate our commitment to protect and enhance biodiversity

Transforming grazing land into rainforest

Ecosystems continue to be threatened by climate change and extreme weather events. One initiative we have implemented to assist with this threat is the transformation of 6 hectares of cleared grazing land at Tinderbox Creek near Bangalow into subtropical rainforest. Over 13 years, approximately 9,000 rainforest plants were planted, successfully establishing populations of seven threatened and three nationally rare plant species.

Revegetation to expand Koala habitat

At an even larger scale, the Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway Upgrade included an ambitious Koala Revegetation Plan, creating 130 hectares of new koala habitat. By planting native trees, we compensated for habitat loss, improved connectivity, and guided koalas towards safe road crossings.

Protecting new species and rainforest

Our revegetation efforts are evident across our projects, including our work along the Coffs Harbour Bypass. The project’s early work conducting ecological surveys led to the discovery of two new plant species: Fontainea sp. Coffs Harbour and Pittosporum kororoense. To protect these newly discovered species, the project implemented measures to safeguard the plants within their natural habitats. When required, plants were relocated to suitable environments and propagated in designated facilities. Thousands of these plants are now thriving within protected sites.

Additionally, in response to community feedback, the project realigned the Coffs Harbour Bypass to preserve the White Booyong Fig Subtropical Rainforest, known locally as Grandpa’s Scrub. This redesign avoided impacting this remnant rainforest, demonstrating our commitment to environmental stewardship and community collaboration.

Preserving endangered species and native plants

Our commitment to restoration is also evident in the Nowra Bridge Project, where we took proactive measures to preserve the endangered Magenta Lilly Pillies. Seeds were collected and propagated on-site, and these plants were successfully replanted adjacent to Bomaderry Creek.

Similarly, our M12 project focused on the collection and propagation of native plant seeds in partnership with Toolijooa Nursery. We successfully propagated various native species and will replant approximately 31,000 new trees along the M12 corridor. Additionally, we will share any surplus propagated plants with other conservation areas, extending the benefits of native flora preservation and expansion beyond our projects.

Urban greening in Parramatta

Extending our efforts to urban environments, our partnership with the City of Parramatta Council aims to combat the urban heat island effect and improve air quality. We are planting over 5,500 trees in Parramatta by 2024 as part of the Parramatta Light Rail Tree Offset Strategy. This initiative supports urban cooling, biodiversity and surpasses the pre-construction tree count.

Biodiversity Offset

Across our projects, we follow our Biodiversity Policy and Biodiversity Management Guidelines to avoid, minimise and mitigate the impacts on biodiversity. We also look for ways to restore biodiversity, and to go above and beyond minimal compliance requirements. We established a unique Biobank to meet our obligation under NSW and Commonwealth law. The Biobank holds biodiversity credits from Transport-owned land and from projects that have reduced impacts due to design refinements. It forms a crucial subset of Transport’s total biodiversity credit holdings and strengthens our participation in the Biodiversity Offset Scheme.

Our diverse revegetation efforts highlight our commitment to comprehensive restoration and conservation. By collaborating with communities and taking thoughtful actions, we are creating positive changes that will benefit both our cities and natural landscapes for generations to come.

#GenerationRestoration

In late 2023, Transport for NSW (Transport) unveiled its Net Zero and Climate Change policy. This historic framework is designed to steer the entire NSW transport sector towards a net zero future.

The transport sector is the fastest-growing source of emissions in Australia, accounting for around 20 per cent of NSW’s greenhouse gas emissions. To combat this, the policy outlines targets for progressive decarbonisation within Transport for NSW and the broader transport sector.

The key targets in the policy include:

• achieving 100 per cent renewable energy for the electricity used by rail, light rail, and metro networks by 2025 (with 98 per cent already achieved)
• transitioning the entire fleet of Transport’s work vehicles to electric by 2030
• reaching net-zero emissions across the transport sector by 2050
• expanding our vision by aiming for net negative emissions within the sector by 2060.

The policy aligns with the NSW Net Zero Plan, The Paris Agreement, and the NSW Climate Change Adaption Strategy, ensuring that our efforts synchronise with the NSW Government’s broader commitments to a net zero future.

Additionally, Transport will collaborate with National Highways, a global leader in decarbonising transport infrastructure in the UK. This partnership aims to incorporate leading global practices to tackle challenges and achieve the ambitious environmental goals outlined by the policy. We will also be guided by the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Roadmap that we’ve developed with Infrastructure NSW, to help us engage industry partners to co-design, trial and implement best practice across NSW Government projects.

To support policy implementation, Transport will conduct consultation with stakeholders across the industry to develop a broader roadmap for net zero emissions and circular economy. This will guide our stakeholders in establishing their approaches and to facilitate a coordinated industry-wide response towards a net zero future in NSW.