KarunaNews Story

The government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park, announcing it will add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves in mid-north New South Wales to create one of the largest national parks in the state and protect more than 12,000 koalas. The premier, Chris Minns, and environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the government would put an immediate moratorium on logging within the park’s boundaries and roll out a support package for workers at affected timber mills in the region. After months of pressure from community environment advocates frustrated at the time it was taking for the government to fulfil its election commitment while logging of the area continued, the NSW government accepted that all 176,000 hectares of state forest that were assessed for potential inclusion should be protected. Forest advocates, who have spent more than a decade pushing successive state governments to establish a great koala national park, welcomed the “historic” announcement. The government said the new park would protect old-growth forests that were among the world’s biodiversity hotspots, home to more than 100 threatened species, including more than 12,000 koalas and 36,000 greater gliders, and important water catchments.