Environmentalists accuse loggers of "ramping up" operations before the NSW government establishes its Great Koala National Park, targeting swathes of land set aside for conservation.
Environment Minister Penny Sharpe says the government will realign the state's focus on koala protection with a summit on the endangered marsupial, as conservationists call for a halt on logging in the area.
Some 30,813 hectares of state forest earmarked for the park could be logged by the Forestry Corporation of NSW in the next year, analysis by the Nature Conservation Council indicates.
The $80 million Great Koala National Park was announced by Labor before the NSW election, with the party looking to protect the endangered marsupial population across the mid-north coast.
"The Minns Labor government will convene a koala summit to review and refocus the NSW Koala Strategy," Ms Sharpe told AAP on Tuesday.
"One of my first actions as minister was to instruct the department to start work on permanently protecting a range of important koala habitat areas."
The government's commitment to a national park includes funds for planning and expert scientific advice, but up to 20 per cent of the park may be logged before the process begins, the conservation council's chief executive Jacqui Mumford said.
Logging is planned in some of the most vital koala habitat areas, including at Wild Cattle Creek, Clouds Creek, Pine Creek and the Boambee State Forest on the mid-north coast, the analysis said.
"Forestry Corp knows this national park is coming and they are deliberately ramping up operations within its boundaries to extract as much timber from it as possible," Ms Mumford said.
She called on the government to immediately halt logging operations in all areas that will become part of the national park.
"The Great Koala National Park proposal was developed by leading scientists, ecologists and local environmental groups, including the National Parks Association, who identified the most important areas of koala habitat in NSW," Ms Mumford said.
"All of these areas need to be protected if we are to ensure the survival of koalas in the wild."
The Forestry Corporation of NSW manages the logging of more than 20,000 square kilometres of native and plantation forests. It was recently fined more than $500,000 in the Land and Environment Court for illegal logging activities.
The NSW Forestry Corporation have been contacted for comment.
