The koala in NSW is predicted to become extinct by 2050. In response the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) was proposed and in 2020 the Department of Planning Industry and Environment’s (DPIE) identified 55,000 hectares of State Forests for addition to existing National Parks as the Great Koala National Park.
At the time the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) spokesperson Dailan Pugh welcomed the news saying ‘It’s a step in the right direction’.
During the NSW election the Labor Party committed $80 million to establish the GKNP which would connect 175,000 hectares of state forests with existing national parks, creating a nature reserve of more than 300,000 hectares according to the ABC.
However, in the meantime the NSW Forestry Corporation, a government agency, continues to heavily log areas that are proposed for the GKNP. Local communities have, and continue, to actively block their logging attempts of these native forests.
Boambee State Forest on the western edge of Coffs Harbour, that is proposed to be part of the GKNP, is today being blocked from logging by activist Ella, a forest protector, who is 100 feet up a tree in a secured tree-sit in Boambee State Forest.
Koala breeding
This area is an area known for koala breeding and the Bellingen Activist Network (BAN) along with the support of Gumbaynggirr elders and local residents are demanding that FCNSW immediately ends native forest logging in NSW because of the extinction and climate crisis.
‘I want to pay my respects to all the Gumbaynggirr elders whose cries to protect Country have fallen on the deaf ears of a destructive and careless industry,’ says Ella from her perch.
‘Koala populations have depleted 62 per cent since I was born. This forest is a dunggirr (koala) hotspot, and we are in an extinction crisis. It is not ok that the NSW Forestry Corporation wants to log it.’
This action is happening a few kilometres from the Orara East State Forest where the local community has been protesting native forest logging for months. Last week an activist blockaded the entrance to Orara forest stopping workers from entering and halting logging for a day. Later two women attached themselves via a lock-on device to the harvester machine also stopping felling for a whole day.
The activists found a red-necked wallaby joey caught between logs in the log dump and it is now having to be raised by a carer.
‘I recently read a report that more than 65 per cent of rural residents want to see an end to native forest logging,’ explained Ella.
‘People want to see it as a thing of the past because it is a loss – a loss for everyone. It is a destructive industry with no economic benefits for local communities and can only exist because the elected NSW government is choosing to subsidise it with our taxes.’
Action by local communities to save their forests have seen many native forests across Australia saved from the industrial logging industry.
‘They are still standing today because brave activists put their bodies on the front line to defend them.’
The BAN are encouraging concerned citizens to join the frontline and defend what is left of NSW forests so that there is something left to create the GKNP as well as forests for future generations to enjoy.
Find out more on the Bellingen Activist Network social media pages.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
