Historic Win: NSW delivers full Great Koala National Park

The NSW Government today announced it will permanently protect the full 176,000 hectares of state forests proposed for inclusion in the Great Koala National Park, alongside an immediate moratorium on logging in the area. 

This once-in-a-generation decision gives endangered koalas in NSW a real chance of survival and delivers on a landmark NSW Labor election promise.

The announcement includes a commitment to provide transition support for timber workers and a strategy to remediate damage caused by decades of native forest logging.

The Great Koala National Park will safeguard habitat for an estimated 12,000 koalas, as well as endangered species like the greater glider and swift parrot. Protecting large intact ecosystems is one of the most effective ways to conserve biodiversity, fight climate change and safeguard First Nations cultural heritage. 

The Wilderness Society welcomes this historic decision as the most significant conservation outcome for forests in NSW for a long time. It is crucial that workers and their families are properly supported through this inevitable change, and the government’s promised transition package is an important start. 

Victoria Jack, NSW Campaigns Manager for the Wilderness Society, says, “Conservation wins don’t get much bigger than this. This historic announcement will give koalas a fighting chance for a future.

“This is a decision backed by science, and it will deliver outcomes for both nature and the economy.

“Protecting the full Great Koala National Park means protecting the habitat of 12,000 koalas and many other species, millions of tonnes of carbon abatement, and protecting First Nations cultural heritage.

“Modeling shows the park will deliver jobs for regional communities and generate millions of dollars of economic benefit. Whereas logging in these forests not only costs nature dearly, but taxpayers too. The community is forced to cough up tens of millions of dollars in subsidies each year, and foot the bill for huge fines for Forestry Corporation’s repeated environmental breaches.

“This major step forward brings us closer than ever to ending industrial native forest logging in NSW. We have some of the most biodiverse forests on the planet, home to ancient and rare species found nowhere else on Earth—yet they continue to be logged at taxpayers’ expense. The government deserves credit for this historic step, and next the task is to secure a full transition to a sustainable plantation-based timber industry.

“But right now, it’s time to celebrate the leadership shown by NSW Premier Chris Minns and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe in delivering this incredible outcome after years of tireless campaigning from conservationists, scientists, Traditional Custodians and community members.”