Conservation groups have published an open letter calling on NSW Premier Chris Minns to declare the full 176,000 hectares assessed as the Great Koala National Park.
Speaking for 4 million Australians, the message from the organisations is that their supporters expect a ‘great’ koala park, not a cut down version, with the entire nation invested in the survival of koalas.
It follows a misleading campaign against the park and the premier’s Estimates answer last week: ‘The million-dollar question … is how big it will be. In all candour, Mr Chair, we haven’t made a decision on that yet.’
10,000 football fields
The open letter points out that since the ALP’s 2023 election victory, more than 10,000 football fields of forests have been cut down in the footprint of the promised Great Koala National Park.
Forestry Corp chops down native forest trees, degrading threatened species habitat, for a hardwood division that lost more than $72 million in the last four years. Taxpayers are subsidising this folly. Native forest logging must end. It is failing nature, the government and regional communities.
Frontier Economics modelling shows that ending native forest logging in New South Wales doesn’t have to have a negative economic impact. Done well, with a structural adjustment package, it can increase jobs by 15 per cent and deliver for the environment, trees and wildlife, and communities. Now and into the future.
Conservation groups say that logging companies undermining the Great Koala National Park are on the wrong side of history, nature and the jobs of the future.
Defining moment
Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia, said, ‘This is a defining moment for the Minns government and their 2023 election promise to deliver the Great Koala National Park – the world’s first koala-focused national park.
‘Premier Minns must seize this opportunity to save the 12,000 koalas that live across 176,000 hectares of habitat. Not one hectare less will be enough.
‘We thank the local communities, like Coffs Harbour, Bellingen and many others, who have worked for years to save the koala from extinction in New South Wales. The jobs boost from a global koala tourist attraction will benefit these communities.’
David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said, ‘To declare the full Great Koala National Park would be a historic victory for nature, for koalas and for the many people and community groups that have fought so hard to protect and restore this ancient, unique expanse of forest in NSW.
‘Australia is a global deforestation hotspot and, embarrassingly, the number one country in the world for mammal extinction. The declaration of a Great Koala National Park that addresses our deforestation and extinction crises is long overdue.’
Kelly O’Shanassy, CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation, said, ‘Over 40 years, Labor governments have a legacy of protecting conservation icons: Bob Hawke saved the Franklin River from dams, Mark McGowan protected forests in southwest WA from logging and Bob Carr declared new national parks on the NSW north coast.
‘It’s time for Premier Minns to lead, declare the full Great Koala National Park and end native forest logging in the state.’
Extinction risk
Wilderness Society National Campaigns Director Amelia Young said, ‘The delivery of the Great Koala National Park in full is essential to save the iconic koala from extinction in NSW.
‘Further delays mean further logging. After two years in office, it’s time for Premier Minns to deliver the environmental legacy that was promised.’
Jacqui Mumford, CEO at Nature Conservation Council NSW said, ‘The Great Koala National Park was the centrepiece environment commitment from this government; however it has been over 700 days and we are still waiting for them to deliver.
‘If they are serious about a legacy that doesn’t involve koalas continuing their trajectory towards extinction, they will deliver the park in full without any further delays.’
Bob Debus, Chair of Wilderness Australia said, ‘This Park proposal has been the centrepiece of the ALPs environment policy agenda since 2015. It promises to match the Wran and Carr environmental legacy in making a truly significant addition to the conservation of forests in NSW.
‘However, time is fast running out. Since the government came to office in 2023, some of the richest koala habitat covered by the proposal has been logged and more will soon disappear if the full park is not soon declared.’
Heartbreaking
Dr Grahame Douglas, President of the National Parks Association of NSW, said, ‘The National Parks Association takes great pride in the Great Koala National Park report we launched in 2015.
‘It is heartbreaking that, a decade later, the NSW government’s delays in declaring the new park have allowed so much forest to be lost.
‘The proposal to transfer 176,000 hectares into permanent protection was no ambit claim, it was the absolute minimum required to create a well-connected, resilient and diverse park that offers a future for koalas and all the fauna and flora that share their forests.’
Susie Russell, spokesperson for the North Coast Environment Council, said, ‘Finalising the Great Koala National Park is supposed to be the first step in the Minns government’s broader review of the forestry industry.
‘Allowing the park process to drag on is creating more uncertainty for everyone including workers who might be affected. Meanwhile the ongoing destruction of koala homes is appalling.’
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