The New South Wales Greens and community groups have raised concerns about a Minns government plan to suspend logging operations in just 5% of its promised great koala national park while it consults experts and industry about the proposal.
The Greens environment spokesperson, Sue Higginson, has also warned that the more than 12-month process announced by the environment minister, Penny Sharpe, on Tuesday could leave important habitat areas without any protection until 2025.
The government announced on Tuesday it had suspended logging operations in 106 “koala hubs” after weeks of pressure from communities that had accused it of stalling on a promise to establish new national parkland on the mid-north coast.
The koala hubs cover about 5% of the 176,000 hectares of forest that the government will assess for potential protection through a process it expects to complete in the final quarter of 2024. The government said the hubs contained 42% of the recorded koala sightings in state forests in the assessment area since 2000.
While the cessation of logging in the hubs was welcomed, Higginson said the lack of protection for the larger area was a “gift to the timber industry”.
“The informal protection for koala hubs and announcement of advisory groups pales in comparison to the revelation that 58% of critical koala habitat in the proposed great koala national park will still be subject to logging plans and that the park won’t be created until 2025 at the earliest,” she said.
“The forests that will form the great koala national park will continue to be logged while the government and advisory groups sort out the details of the plan.”
Higginson called on the government to establish the park by the start of 2024 at the latest and “begin the transition of the public native forest industry before it’s too late for koalas and too late for the other precious forest dependent species”.
Mark Graham, a longtime forests advocate form the mid-north coast region, said protecting koala habitat within about 5% of the proposed park was a step forward but not enough to stop the decline of koalas “across these globally significant public native forests”.
“The government is thanked for this small step forward,” he said. “But in order to stop the ongoing decline of our beloved koalas they must immediately stop industrial logging in globally significant forests such as Oakes, Clouds Creek and Moonpar state forests.”
He said a “15-month process” was too long. “The science is screaming at us that all native forests matter; the logging of them must stop immediately to stop both the extinction and climate crises.”
Sharpe said on Tuesday the government was balancing its commitment to protect environmentally sensitive areas with the “development of a plan to sustain a viable timber industry and jobs”.
“The creation of the great koala national park is essential to saving koalas from extinction in NSW,” she said.
“The government is taking serious steps towards its creation and will work closely with the community, Aboriginal organisations and industry as the areas for inclusion in the park are assessed.”
The agriculture and regional NSW minister, Tara Moriarty, said the government was “committed to working closely with the industry to develop a blueprint for the future timber sector that accommodates both the park and the production of timber products”.
Dailan Pugh, a spokesperson for the North East Forest Alliance, said logging had already occurred in some koala hubs, including in Newry state forest.
He said the suspension of logging in hubs within the proposed park’s footprint was welcome but it was “lamentable that they can go on logging them elsewhere”.
“Continued logging of important koala habitat must stop,” Pugh said. “At the very least, Penny Sharpe needs to reinstate the requirement for pre-logging koala surveys, and ensure all important habitat is protected.”
Further comment has been sought from Sharpe.
