Koalas in the wild NSW are predicted to go extinct by 2050 and the NSW government has said their preservation in the wild is of the highest priority, yet they won’t stop logging of high-value habitat.
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The strategy for koala conservation is currently under review and the community is being asked for feedback on the best ways to help NSW’s endangered koalas.
‘In the lead-up to the Koala Summit (at Taronga Zoo on 22 March), we are launching this paper to seek innovative ideas and feedback. Everyone who cares about the future of our precious koalas is encouraged to provide their views,’ said Minister for Climate Change and the Environment Penny Sharpe.
Protect high-value habitat?
‘The NSW government’s 2021 Koala Strategy identifies that the highest priority to avoid the extinction of koalas in the wild by 2050 is to protect their habitat,’ explained North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) spokesperson Dailan Pugh.
‘To this end they have allocated $71 million to buy private properties and implement conservation agreements over up to 22,000 hectares. So far they have bought 10,000ha of land to add to national parks and entered conservation agreements over 7,700ha of private land. Only part of this is high-quality Koala habitat.
‘There are 230,000 hectares of State Forests on the NSW North Coast identified as high-quality koala habitat by the NSW government and as Nationally Important Koala Areas by the Commonwealth government, yet both governments refuse to stop logging them.
Subsidising koala deaths
‘The NSW Forestry Corporation is losing $15 million a year, and getting tens of millions in equity injections, to log tens of thousands of koala feed trees in thousands of hectares of high-quality koala habitat every year.’
Unlike NSW, Victoria and WA have both brought forward an end to native forest logging that started on 1 January, 2024.
‘If the government was serious about saving koalas and saving money then their highest priority must be to protect koala habitat on public land,’ Mr Pugh told The Echo.
‘The government has identified 50 koala populations “where koalas have the potential to persist over the long term”, and in 2021 prioritised 19 of these for immediate protection of strongholds, including in the Banyabba Area of Regional Koala Significance (Whiporie-Rappville).
‘Despite this they (NSW Forestry) are right now logging identified koala strongholds in Braemar and Myrtle State Forests within the Banyabba ARKS.
‘The government is asking people to tell them what else they should be doing to protect koala habitat.
‘Please tell them to immediately stop logging Koala habitat on public lands,’ Mr Pugh said.
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