The Greens plan to Save Our Koalas in NSW was outlined by Greens MP and lead Upper House candidate Cate Faehrmann and Greens candidate for Coffs Harbour Tim Nott.
The Greens Plan to Save Koalas (pdf) will:
- Introduce a moratorium on the clearing of Koala habitat
- Introduce a Koala Protection Bill with clear powers to prohibit the destruction of Koala Habitat
- Create a ‘Koala Super-Highway’ to connect Koala habitat
- End native forest logging
- Create a Great Koala National Park on the Mid North Coast
- Save Sydney’s Koalas
- Empower local councils to protect Koala habitat
- Urgently act on the climate crisis by ending coal and gas by 2030
The Greens plan comes on the same day as two more women chained themselves to gates leading into the largest saw-mill in NSW to stop logging work and draw attention to the felling of native timber trees in NSW’s state forests. A month of protests north of Taree have halted logging in the Bulga Forest, but logging continues in the Yarratt Forest.
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) also committed to establish a Great Koala National Park on the mid-north coast, NSW if elected to govern in the state election in March.
Cate Faehrmann, Greens MP and koala spokesperson
“Koalas are on track for extinction before 2050. We have the choice of allowing them to go extinct or bringing a halt to the destruction of their habitat, which is exactly what this plan aims to achieve”
“Habitat destruction is what’s driving the koala’s extinction, yet the Government is still allowing their habitat to be cleared for logging, mining, agriculture and urban development.
“This plan will introduce an immediate moratorium on the clearing of koala habitat followed by the legislation of koala habitat protections that will map and protect koala habitat across the state.
“The Greens also want to see a Great Koala National Park established as a matter of urgency. The benefits of a Great Koala National Park are clear. That’s why the Greens will get on with the job of making it instead of delaying with yet another review.
“Koalas need connectivity between their habitat. This plan will see koala corridors across the state mapped out, protected and expanded to ensure their populations not only survive but thrive.
“Importantly, this plan will protect Sydney’s koalas, one of the only chlamydia free populations in the state. We will ensure underground crossings are built on Appin Road and we will protect and expand the vital east-west corridors threatened by urban development,”
said Cate Faehrmann.
Tim Nott, Greens candidate for Coffs Harbour
“The Greens plan is an opportunity to put the koala wars behind and accept that in order to save the koala we need to stop destroying koala habitat,”
“The people of Coffs Harbour know the koala is not only an iconic and beloved species but also an economic driver for our region if we create a Great Koala National Park. If elected i’ll be pushing the next Government of NSW to implement the Greens plan and save the koala from extinction before it’s too late,”
said Tim Nott.
