Forestry Corporation targeting Great Koala National Park despite Minns Government commitment

The NSW Forestry Corporation is logging in areas of the proposed Great Koala National Park at a rate more than three times the rest of Northern NSW according to analysis conducted by the Forest Alliance NSW.

Based on Forestry Corporation’s own maps as at 25 June 2024, of the 20 active logging operations on the North Coast from the Hunter to the Queensland border, more than half were in the Great Koala National Park footprint. That’s despite the proposed park area containing just one fifth of State Forests in the region.

The Minns Government committed to create a Great Koala National Park at the 2023 State Election and has since established a long-winded process to determine the boundary of the park leaving most of the area subject to ongoing intense logging by the State Owned logging corporation.

Dalian Pugh from North East Forest Alliance said, “The Minns Government is allowing the State owned logging company to target the proposed park to take as many trees as they can, degrading the proposed park before it’s even established. It’s outrageous.

“We warned that this would be the result if a moratorium was not put in place while the park was designed and that’s exactly what has occurred.

“The Community Advisory Panel’s recommendations for a moratorium, or to at least undertake pre-logging surveys to identify core Koala habitat to protect while the assessment is undertaken, have been rejected by the Government.

Jacqui Mumford from the NSW Nature Conservation Council said, “The Minns Government made a commitment to a Great Koala National Park which would be a proud legacy for a Labor Government however they are allowing the Forestry Corporation to erode that legacy.

“We’re reiterating our call for logging in the proposed park boundary to cease while the process to establish the park is completed.”

Justin Field from the Forest Alliance NSW said, “Clearly the Great Koala National Park area is being targeted for logging by the Forestry Corporation.

“It’s bad faith from the state owned logging company. They know the direction the Government is heading and they are making a mockery of that commitment. The Minns Government needs to step in and stop this destruction if the park is going to be the reserve Koala’s need to survive.”