“By waving these laws through a second time, Premier [Gladys] Berejiklian has gone against the wishes of voters and the advice of leading scientists,” she said.

"She has also squandered an opportunity to give the state’s 1000 threatened species a fighting chance of survival."

A spokeswoman for Niall Blair, Minister for Primary Industries, said the remade code struck “the right balance between sensible land management and a healthy environment”.

Phil Spark, an independent ecologist, who has reported to authorities more than a dozen cases of potentially illegal land-clearing since August, said habitat destruction was accelerating.

“It’s very widespread,” Mr Spark said. “A lot of the vegetation gains over all these years are now potentially up for grabs.”

So-called continuous use provisions in the new code allow farmers to remove not only regrowth from the 1970s onwards but also the big hollow trees that provide habitat to bats, birds, lizards and other wildlife, he said.

The government’s promises to take legal action for land-clearing that took place under the previous laws could be tested by early next month.

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Time is running out to take action for alleged land-clearing of 1100 hectares near Garah in northern NSW on April 4. The Office of Environment and Heritage is yet to proceed despite amassing substantial amounts of material.

“The matter is still under investigation and it is not appropriate to comment further at this time,” an OEH spokeswoman said.

David Morris, chief executive of the Environmental Defenders Office NSW, which successfully challenged the government over its land-clearing codes said his organisation would “carefully scrutinise the new codes for legal errors” that might present the opportunity for a fresh challenge.

Penny Sharpe, Labor's environment spokeswoman, said "the current codes should not be simply remade; they should be thrown out".

"Given the advice [from OEH] that land clearing could increase by 45 per cent, there is a significant detrimental impact on soil and water," she said.

"Only 1 per cent of koala habitat on private land is safe, so these codes should never have been signed off in the first place."