WWF-Australia has hailed the creation of the Great Koala National Park as a game changer in the fight to save koalas from extinction and end native forest logging.
The NSW Government today announced its plan to connect 176,000 hectares of state forests to existing national parks, establishing a 476,000 hectare safe haven for koalas on the Mid North Coast.
The concept of a Great Koala National Park was first proposed more than a decade ago, and since then, koala ecologists, conservation groups and many local communities and businesses have been collectively advocating for its creation.
Today's announcement comes seven years after WWF and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW released a report estimating NSW koalas were on track to be extinct by 2050.
WWF-Australia's CEO, Dermot O'Gorman said the new national park would help reverse the rapid decline of east coast koalas.
"Koala numbers in NSW crashed by more than half between 2000 and 2020 thanks to deforestation, drought, disease and devastating bushfires," said Mr O'Gorman.
"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.
"These tall eucalypt forests are a climate refuge for koalas. Australia needs landscape-scale protected area networks like this to prepare for the possibility of 2.5 to 3 degrees of warming by the end of this century."
Mr O'Gorman said the new national park would also benefit other species including endangered greater gliders and vulnerable glossy black-cockatoos.
"Koalas are the face of Australia's forests. If we can save koalas, we can save thousands of other species and the trees they call home," he said.
Mr O'Gorman called on the NSW Government to engage with First Nations communities regarding the future management of the park.
"Consultation on handback of public native forests to Indigenous communities must be central to the creation of this national park," he said.
In today's announcement, the NSW Government imposed an immediate moratorium on logging within the proposed park boundary.
WWF-Australia conservation scientist Dr Stuart Blanch welcomed this commitment and government funding to support affected timber workers.
"This park is great news for koalas and it should be great for people too," said Dr Blanch.
"We're pleased to see the NSW Government providing funding to support timber workers and regional communities. We look forward to seeing additional funding to drive the transition out of native forest logging and into a plantations-based timber industry.
"This will allow local communities and businesses to focus on protection and restoration of forests, and jobs based on plantations and engineered wood."
WWF-Australia has been advocating for the Great Koala National Park, with the support of partners like HP Inc, as part of its work to protect and restore the forests of eastern Australia and build a future where koalas not only survive but thrive.
WWF's sustained effort continues to tackle the greatest threats to koalas' survival, from habitat destruction to disease. This includes regenerating koala forests through the Koala Friendly Carbon Initiative, partnering with Bangalow Koalas to plant 250,000 koala food and habitat trees and trialling a chlamydia vaccine with Currumbin Wildlife Hospital to protect koala health.
People can help protect vital koala habitats by signing the petition to end to native forest logging at wwf.org.au/get-involved/we-all-need-trees/
