After more than a decade of campaigning, the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) passed legislation in the NSW Parliament on Friday 23rd October.
“This is an historic step forward in the conservation of NSW’s forests and their long-suffering inhabitants,” said Dailan Pugh, President of the North-East Forest Alliance.
“Premier Chris Minns and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe are to be congratulated for finally making this promise a reality.”
“This park encompasses some of Australia’s most important forests and vital climate refuges for the future of many species,” he said.
According to leading Koala expert Dr Steve Phillips, the GKNP will stand in history as the most significant contribution to koala conservation in NSW since the species was first listed as Vulnerable during the 1990s.
As these forests recover from past logging, Koalas as well as 100 other threatened species will increase over time.
North Coast Environment Council spokesperson Susie Russell said, “We appreciate the need to designate some areas as Regional Parks to accommodate the spectrum of recreational uses.
“However, we believe some of these would be better managed as National Parks and will be encouraging participation in the Plan of Management preparation to address outstanding concerns.
“We are pleased that no State Conservation Areas are being created to allow continued mining exploration, and that some existing SCAs are being made into National Parks.
“We recognise that the NSW Government made it clear from the start that they were going to exclude plantations from the park, but we urge them to consider the future inclusion and rehabilitation of key areas of plantations needed to establish habitat links and improve the integrity of the park.
“We trust that the Aboriginal Consultative Committee will continue to be provided with meaningful input and hope that this park will become a model for Aboriginal joint management and employment on country,” she said.
Mr Pugh said, “Now that the NSW Government can gain a revenue stream from protecting forests using carbon credits, NEFA has proposed the remaining 573,000 ha of public native forests in north-east NSW be made into the North-East Forest Parks, using the Great Koala National Park as a model.”
See more commentary on pages 10 and 11.
