2025-09-07
The Great Koala Nation Park has finally been announced today and will protect 176,000 of our public native forests from logging with a total of $146M committed by the Government in total.
The protected area will impact 6 small timber mills, a total of 200 - 300 jobs coming mainly from Forestry Corporation, who will be able to transfer into the National Parks and Wildlife staff if they choose.
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,”
“It is hard to reconcile the destruction that happened while we waited. Logging intensified inside areas that should have been protected, and the community has carried the heavy environmental, emotional and financial cost - that era must end,”
“The Government’s justification for the two and a half year wait is a shock to the system, to say they were unsure about job numbers feels like a kick in the face. We have maintained from the outset, on the basis of good data and analysis, that there were no more than 500 jobs across the whole of the Northern Region. The logging industry lobby group pulled figures of thousands out of thin air just to muddy the waters, the Government used this to delay for 2 years and they should not have,”
“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,”
“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.
Background:
The Government has announced the Park’s boundaries, an immediate halt to logging across 176,000 hectares of state forests connected to a 476,000 hectare reserve, plus additional support for affected workers and businesses.
Funding includes $60 million for implementation, building on $80 million in the 2023 to 2024 Budget, and $6 million for regional tourism, totalling $146 million.
Community and conservation groups are calling for dedicated protection in the Richmond River Koala Park and for the Great Southern Forest proposal on the South Coast.
The Government is exploring a carbon credit pathway for forest protection. Independent experts have warned the draft method risks poor integrity and perverse outcomes if used to justify delay.