The 63-page submission – compiled by Dr Richard Medd and Dr Colin Bower and which has been accepted for consideration by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage – comes as debate rages about a proposed mountain bike trail on the SCA.

AOBV is a new land classification introduced in 2016 under the Biodiversity Conservation Act, which provides legal protections for areas which represent the most valuable sites for biodiversity conservation in NSW.

Any development proposal located on an AOBV – of which there are currently four in NSW –  must be assessed using the Biodiversity Assessment Method.

Dr Medd said that Mount Canobolas meets all the criteria for an AOBV.

“We made this submission so that the exceptional biodiversity value of Mount Canobolas is formally recognised and fully taken into account in any development proposal,” he said.

“This submission pulls together, for the first time, a vast amount of information on the SCA’s biodiversity.”

Dr Bower said the submission demonstrates the SCA “has an unusually high concentration of species not found anywhere else on earth”.

“Nine endemic species depend entirely on the SCA for their survival. There are also 12 species and three ecological communities that are listed as threatened,” he said.