28 June 2023 – The peak NGO advocating for the urgent creation of the Great Koala National Park in NSW has delivered their “Communique” to Parliament and asks all politicians, regardless of political party affiliations, to accept their responsibilities to timber workers and the industry, to the government budget, to First Nations people, to the environment and to the endangered koala.
The Communique, published in full below, is asking the NSW Government to immediately stop the logging currently occurring within the boundary of the proposed Great Koala National Park (GKNP).
The loss making, government-owned Forestry Corporation is cynically logging critical koala habitat now ahead of the new ALP Government fulfilling its election promise to create the GKNP.
The GKNP Advocacy group highlighted current and ongoing taxpayer-funded logging operations by the Forestry Corporation of NSW within the GKNP that are destroying globally significant Koala habitats and causing Koala extinctions.
The GKNP Advocacy Group recognises the government’s important role in preserving and creating jobs, and is urging government to start the transition of timber workers and create new jobs as native timber harvesting is replaced by plantation timber.
The government must include First Nations people in the development of the GKNP and in ongoing operations and management of the forests in perpetuity says the GKNP Advocacy Group.
The Great Koala National Park (GKNP) Advocacy group represents all peak Environmental NGOs and a united alliance of all regional and 13 local community conservation groups within the GKNP.
The GKNP Advocacy group is seeking the public support of a broad base of politicians (including the ALP, crossbench, Independents, AJP, Coalition and Greens) to immediately stop logging within the GKNP and to urgently make the GKNP to stop Koala extinctions.
State politicians who spoke in support of the GKNAPG at the press conference in NSW Parliament House included Sue Higginson MLC (Greens), Michael Regan MLA (independent), Alex Greenwich MLA (independent), Emma Hurst MLC (Animal Justice Party) and Judy Hannan MLA (independent).
Mark Graham, convenor of Great Koala National Park Advocacy Group said
“We are here in Parliament House presenting our Communique seeking broad-based Parliamentary support for an immediate suspension of logging within the Great Koala National Park, the commencement of a fair transition for timber workers, the central involvement of First Nations Peoples in the development, ongoing operations and management of the Great Koala National Park, the restoration of degraded Koala habitats and to ensure the future of our globally beloved Koalas.”
Mark Graham said
The Great Koala National Park Advocacy Group outlined their vision to protect 315 000 hectares of publicly owned state forests stretching from Kempsey to Coffs Harbour and calling on the NSW Government to act on their $80 million election commitment to create the Great Koala National Park.
Greens spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said:
“Since the election an alliance has been building inside NSW Parliament with members from all sides of politics who want to protect koala habitat and our precious public native forest estate.
There is broad support from across the Parliament to take action to create the Great Koala National Park and we are closer than ever to ending public native forest logging in NSW, following WA and Victoria who have taken this necessary step.
“The creation of the Great Koala National Park is now urgent. The community and the peak environmental organisations are here, on the Government’s doorstep calling on them to make good on their election promise without delay.
It’s been three months since the election, in that time irreversible damage has been done to the forests within the proposed Great Koala National Park and we are losing the chance to protect koalas from extinction.
We can’t continue like this, it is not politically, economically, environmentally, and socially tenable to continue to destroy the public asset the Government has made an $80m commitment to protect. Every day we log we are degrading the asset and wasting money.
We are calling on the Premier to step up and provide the Environment Minister all the support she needs to immediately stop the destruction that is occurring within the Great Koala National Park.
Sue Higginson said
Gary Dunnett, CEO from the National Parks Association of NSW said:
“The Great Koala National Park supports 20% of all wild Koalas in NSW. The protection of all Koala habitat within it is essential to avoid the extinction of our Koalas and other globally significant species, a promise or commitment made by State and Federal Labor Governments.
The Great Koala National Park Advocacy Group applauds the NSW Labor Government for its commitment to establishing the Great Koala National Park and urges it to urgently act to protect these globally significant public native forests and to thereby ensure a future for our Koalas.”
Gary Dunnett
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COMMUNIQUE:
The Great Koala National Park Advocacy and Negotiation Group and Local Community Conservation Groups
This group is composed of all peak NSW conservation non-Government organisations and thirteen community conservation groups seeking the urgent gazettal of the Great Koala National Park.
The group recognises and applauds the long-term election commitment of the ALP Government to gazette the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) and urges it to act immediately to secure the future of the 20% of NSW wild Koalas that depend upon it by stopping the ongoing degradation of habitat, ensuring the urgent protection and conservation of habitat and committing to the expansion, recovery and restoration of Koala habitats and the recovery of degraded and fire-impacted Koala populations.
This communique is the agreed position of the group and formally requests the NSW Government to:
- STOP THE LOGGING.
Suspending/Stopping/Ceasing all logging from within the footprint of GKNP immediately – specifically all logging must be immediately suspended from within all State Forests from Yuraygir National Park to the Guy Fawkes River National Park to New England National Park to the Macleay River.
Current logging of native forests at Boambee, Clouds Creek, Moonpar, Newry, Orara East, Tamban, Thumb Creek and Wild Cattle Creek State Forests is causing the loss of globally significant Koala populations identified by the NSW Government as depending upon these connected public native forests within the boundary of the GKNP.
These are all taxpayer-funded Koala extinction operations. There must be no new logging in the GKNP.
- START THE TRANSITION
The creation of the GKNP requires a just and fair transition out of native forest logging for workers, this must start immediately. Some of the $80 million allocated to the establishment of the GKNP funds must be allocated to beginning buying out Wood Supply Agreements and supporting the transition of workers out of the logging of public native forests.
- INVOLVE FIRST NATIONS (GUMBAYNGGIRR, DUNGHUTTI and YAEGL NATIONS)
The Government must commit to involving all First Nations in the processes of establishment and the ongoing custodianship, management and operations of the GKNP.
- MAKE THE GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK
The Government must gazette the GKNP as soon as possible. The science is clear; the case has been made for the need for the creation of the GKNP for well over 10 years. This has been endorsed by the ALP since 2010.
The time to protect all public native forests across the GKNP is now, then the recovery of these globally significant forests can commence and the rebuilding of depleted Koala populations can begin.
- FIX THE PROBLEMS
There is an urgent need to allow and support the recovery of fire-impacted Koala habitats, to restore forests degraded by industrial logging by removing Lantana and other weeds and addressing Bell Miner Associated Dieback.
There is a great need to strategically revegetate critical wildlife landscape linkages and restore key Koala feed tree species, such as Tallowwood, where they have been depleted or removed.
BY URGENTLY IMPLEMENTING ACTIONS 1-5 THE NSW GOVERNMENT WILL PROVIDE A FUTURE FOR KOALAS ACROSS THE GKNP AND MEET ITS GOAL OF PREVENTING THE EXTINCTION OF THE KOALA.
PUT SIMPLY:
STOP THE LOGGING, START THE TRANSITION OF TIMBER WORKERS, INVOLVE FIRST NATIONS, GROW PLANTATION JOBS, MAKE THE GKNP, FIX THE PROBLEMS AND SAVE THE KOALAS.
TABLE 1: Group Members
Peak Environmental NGOs
- Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC)
- National Parks Association (NPA)
- World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
- Bob Brown Foundation (BBF)
- The Wilderness Society (TWS)
Regional Conservation Groups
- North Coast Environment Council (NCEC)
- North East Forest Alliance (NEFA)
Local Community Conservation Groups
Representing State Forest neighbours, local communities and private properties within and bordering the GKNP (collectively well over 500 private properties are represented):
- Bellingen Environment Centre (BEC)
- Dorrigo Koala Alliance (DKA)
- Forest Ecology Alliance (FEA)
- Friends of Bagawa (FOB)
- Friends of Conglomerate (FOC)
- Friends of Kalang Headwaters (FOKH)
- Friends of Newry (FON)
- Friends of Orara East (FOOE)
- Friends of Pine Creek (FOPC)
- Friends of Tarkeeth (FOT)
- Friends of Tuckers Nob (FOTN)
- Nambucca Valley Conservation Association (NVCA)
- Kalang River Forest Alliance (KRFA)
See also: As NSW’s debt mounts, Treasurer urged to end to subsidies for logging
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What can NSW Government do to stop koala extinction
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NSW Nationals motion on the Forestry Industry, 31 May 2023
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