A New Era for Koalas: NSW Welcomes the Great Koala National Park
It has been described as the most significant step for forest protection in New South Wales since the landmark 1982 Rainforest Decision, when Premier Neville Wran halted logging across 120,000 hectares of subtropical rainforest. Today, conservation groups are celebrating again.
The Minns Government has confirmed that the Great Koala National Park is moving forward, placing a moratorium on logging while the technicalities of carbon credits are ironed out. For campaigners who have fought for a decade, this is the moment they’ve been waiting for: the beginning of a sanctuary that will safeguard koalas and countless other species for generations to come.
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Protecting a Fragile Icon
At the heart of this announcement are the koalas—12,000 of them, scattered across the lush forests of the mid-north coast. For years, their populations have been in steep decline, squeezed by habitat loss, disease, and bushfires. NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said the new park gives them a fighting chance:
“This park will protect 12,000 koalas and enable their populations to recover as their feed trees regrow. This is the sort of action we need if we want to double their population in NSW.”
But the benefits reach far beyond koalas. The Great Koala National Park will also secure habitat for 108 other threatened species, including the endangered Southern Greater Glider, the Spotted-tailed Quoll, the Hastings River Mouse, and the hauntingly rare Rufous Scrub Bird.
These forests form one of the state’s great climate refuges—a vital buffer as heat, drought, and fires intensify.
Reversing a Tragedy
Koala populations in NSW collapsed by more than half between 2000 and 2020, driven by deforestation, drought, disease, and the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires.
Seven years ago, WWF-Australia and the Nature Conservation Council warned koalas were on track to vanish from the state by 2050.
Now, WWF-Australia’s CEO Dermot O’Gorman believes the tide can turn:
“This park is a chance to turn this tragedy around and eventually lift koalas off the threatened species list by 2050. It will safeguard some of our most important koala habitat and ensure future generations can still experience forests full of koalas.”
The park’s towering eucalypt forests are not only prime koala habitat but also recognised climate refuges—ecosystems resilient enough to give species a fighting chance in a world projected to warm by up to 3 degrees by century’s end.
Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said “We are jubilant that 176,000 hectares of our public native forests on the Mid North Coast are finally off the logging schedule. This victory belongs to the communities, First Nations leaders, scientists and forest defenders who never gave up.”
“Now the Government must keep going and protect the Richmond River koala stronghold, commit to the Great Southern Forest National Park on the South Coast, and end native forest logging across NSW. The fact is native forest conservation, threatened species survival, clean drinking water, carbon storage and science should not be political sport in 2025,” Ms Higginson said.
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Unions condemn Great Koala National Park
The Australian Workers’ Union and the Timber, Furnishing & Textiles Union “joined forces to condemn” the park.
AWU NSW Secretary Tony Callinan said “This is not about being pro or anti koala. We all want to see koalas thrive. What we’re against is the unnecessary destruction of an entire industry and the communities it supports when there is a science-based option that achieves both conservation and a viable timber industry.”
“Forestry Corporation has a good track record of managing large areas of public land in NSW, including managing the bush risk. Without a forestry industry we are concerned that that the risk of catastrophic wildfires that kill all wildlife, including koalas will be increased,” the union secretary said.
Last week the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) filed 29 charges against the state-owned Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) for alleged illegal logging activities. Other recent stories covered by our site which seem to contradict the AWU’s claim of a “good track record” include:
* EPA’s Stop Work Order extended in Tallaganda State Forest
* Illegal Logging Greater Glider Habitat in Styx State Forest
* Forestry Corp NSW illegally logs Bindarri National Park
* Forestry Corporation NSW has a compliance problem
To help launch the park, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has been allocated another $60 million, in addition to last year’s $80 million boost. The state government has tied the park’s completion to federal approval of its potential to generate carbon credits.
While the Great Koala National Park’s creation secures habitat for thousands of threatened species, the unions have presented the government with “a comprehensive package of minimum requirements for any workers displaced by the park’s establishment”.
“It is lunacy to kill these jobs, but if the government is determined to do so our unions intend to do everything we can to ensure that the displaced workers are compensated fairly and assisted to gain alternate jobs,” Mr Callinan said.
A submission by the unions to a government inquiry included demands for a cash payout of $140,000 per person, plus course fees for a new occupation. The government says the moratorium will impact six out of 25 timber mills in the region, affecting about 300 jobs.
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From Logging to Renewal
The announcement marks a profound turning point. The Forestry Corporation has already logged parts of the proposed park, but that chapter is closing. Instead, attention will shift to repair and restoration: healing eroded slopes, clearing invasive lantana, and coaxing the forests back into health.
As Susie Russell from the North Coast Environment Council explained: “It is a great relief to those who have worked long and hard for a decade now, that the logging will finally stop and the Great Koala National Park will soon be a reality. We look forward to the rollout of environmentally sympathetic visitor infrastructure and recreational opportunities.”
That means new jobs—not in clear-felling, but in conservation. Rangers, ecologists, tour guides, and local operators will benefit as the park becomes a tourism drawcard, offering experiences that honour the region’s natural heritage rather than diminish it.
A Boost for People and Place
Beyond wildlife, the park will also secure water catchments vital to Coffs Harbour and surrounding communities. Clean, reliable water supplies are a hidden dividend of intact forests. Meanwhile, the park is expected to fuel eco-tourism, an industry that has already outpaced logging in both revenue and employment across the state’s north coast.
“The Great Koala National Park will bring more jobs, economic benefits and general well-being to the mid-north coast than logging ever has,” Ms Russell said.
The symbolism is powerful: after decades of conflict between loggers and conservationists, the state is backing an economic model that looks forward rather than backward.
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The Road Ahead
Campaigners are not claiming victory just yet. There are still calls to expand the park to include additional corridors—such as linking Bongil Bongil National Park with hinterland forests—and to restart the Forest Industry Action Plan to determine the fate of all public native forests in NSW.
But for now, there’s celebration. After years of tireless grassroots pressure, political negotiations, and scientific assessments, the Great Koala National Park is no longer just an idea. It’s a promise—one that places the survival of koalas, and the health of forests, ahead of the short-term interests of the chainsaw.
As Mr. Pugh put it: “There is no doubt that ending logging of all public native forests is in the best interests of our wildlife and the community.”
The Great Koala National Park is a gift not only to koalas but to all who call the forests of NSW home.
Carbon credits yet to be worked out
“The Government’s plan to link legal protection of the park to carbon credit approvals raises a big red flag. Forest protection should stand on its own and offsets that let big polluters keep emitting are not a climate plan. Deliver the Park in full now, without delay, and start the much needed forest repair and regeneration through the worker first transition that moves people into secure jobs in restoration, land management and nature based tourism,” Sue Higginson MP said.
“The delay of the legal protection framework for the Park until after the Australian Government has approved carbon credit plan is a massive slap for young people, and everyone else, who are trying to avert the worst impacts of climate change because ultimately carbon credits will allow those big climate polluters to keep emitting carbon causing global heating,” Ms Higginson said.
Forestry Australia not happy
Forestry Australia representing forest scientists, managers and growers, expresses its dismay at the New South Wales State Government’s decision to create a Great Koala National Park.
“This decision, will have far-reaching cultural, social and economic consequences with no guarantees for biodiversity,” said Dr Michelle Freeman, President of Forestry Australia. She said “simply declaring a national park does not guarantee biodiversity conservation or the long-term survival of koalas”.
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Timeline: The Road to the Great Koala National Park
2014 – Conservation groups first propose the idea of a Great Koala National Park to protect key forest corridors on the NSW mid-north coast.
2015–2018 – Local activists, scientists, and community groups begin sustained campaigns, highlighting the region’s high-density koala populations and escalating threats from logging.
2019 – The Black Summer bushfires devastate koala habitats across NSW, strengthening calls for a large, contiguous sanctuary. The NSW Legislative Council inquiry later warns koalas could be extinct in the state by 2050 without urgent action.
2020–2021 – State government acknowledges the need for stronger protections but stops short of committing to the proposed park. Logging continues in several critical compartments.
2022 – Election campaigns heat up. The Great Koala National Park becomes a central demand from conservationists, scientists, and regional communities.
March 2023 – The Minns Government wins office, pledging to create the Great Koala National Park if elected.
2023–2024 – A scientific assessment is commissioned to evaluate the conservation value of proposed areas. Results confirm the forests are of high conservation significance.
September 2025 – The NSW Government announces a moratorium on logging within the park boundaries while carbon credit issues are resolved. Conservationists hail this as the beginning of a historic new era for koala protection.
What’s Next for the Great Koala National Park
Late 2025 – Carbon credit framework resolved. NSW Government finalises agreements to ensure the park’s carbon storage can be recognised and traded, unlocking financial sustainability for long-term management.
2026 – Official gazettal of the Great Koala National Park. The park boundaries are legally established, with signage, maps, and protections in place. Logging permanently ceases within the designated areas.
2026–2027 – Restoration begins. Crews are employed to repair logging scars, halt erosion, control lantana, and replant key koala feed trees such as tallowwood, forest red gum, and swamp mahogany.
2027 – Visitor infrastructure rollout. Environmentally sensitive facilities—walking trails, interpretive centres, and eco-cabins—are constructed, with input from local communities and Traditional Owners.
2028 – Tourism boom expected. The park becomes a magnet for domestic and international visitors. Coffs Harbour markets itself as the “Gateway to the Great Koala National Park,” boosting local cafes, accommodation, and tour operators.
2030 – Wildlife monitoring milestones. Early data show stabilising and growing populations of koalas and greater gliders as regrowth forests mature. Community science projects allow locals to contribute sightings.
2035 – A global model. The park is recognised internationally as a case study in balancing conservation, climate action, and regional economies. NSW uses the template to reassess logging across all public native forests.
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Our coverage of the Koala and Forestry issues is here
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