Major threats to the cockatoo include clearance of their feeding and nesting habitat, destruction of nesting hollows (e.g. during firewood collection), competition with other species for nest sites, and poaching. Since European settlement, 56% of its habitat has been cleared, mainly for agriculture. Furthermore, 54% of its habitat on the Swan Coastal Plain—an important area outside the breeding season—has been lost. Much of this area lies within the Perth metropolitan area, and the city's population is predicted to increase 70% by 2050. The Western Australian State Government has produced a "Green Growth Plan" to manage this expansion; conservation groups are concerned the cockatoo (along with other species) could suffer further loss of habitat. In particular, the loss of pine plantations north of Perth could jeopardise the species' food supply. In February 2017, WWF-Australia and BirdLife Australia appealed to the Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg to intervene and halt the ongoing removal of pine trees. BirdLife International designated 13 sites (Important Bird Areas) as being important specifically for Carnaby's black cockatoo. These are the Northern Swan Coastal Plain, which supports between 4600 and 15000 birds outside the breeding season, the Stirling Range, and 11 other sites that support between 20 and 110 breeding pairs of Carnaby's black cockatoos.