2 weeks Ago By Nick O'Malley
Dramatic new footage has emerged showing state government loggers felling koala-feed trees inside the boundaries of the Great Koala National Park, which the NSW government has vowed to create to protect the species. Koalas are considered vulnerable to extinction in NSW due to habitat destruction. The footage, which shows heavy logging equipment felling tall eucalyptus trees at Sheas Nob State Forest inland from Coffs Harbour, was secured by environmentalists who fear the proposed park on the state’s Mid North Coast will be severely damaged before it is declared.
“If the government wants to create a big national park, with real conservation integrity, that preserves the best remaining habitat for koalas, then they have to stop logging it,” said former NSW environment minister Bob Debus, chair of Wilderness Australia, which is lobbying for the park. “To authorise thousands of hectares more logging and then declare them as conservation reserve defies common sense. “It has reached the point where I feel the government would be wise to act to put a stop to the ongoing destruction of its promised park.
” According to analysis by Wilderness Australia and the National Parks Association of NSW, the Forestry Corporation of NSW’s publicly available harvest plans show 1924 hectares of logging is ongoing within the Great Koala National Park assessment area, while another 3469 hectares of forest is scheduled for logging within the next six months. This planned total of an additional 5393 hectares significantly increases the loss of koala habitat within the park’s assessment area since the Minns government was elected, potentially rising from 7185 hectares in late 2024 to as much as 12,578 hectares within the next six months, the equivalent of more than 6700 Sydney Cricket Grounds..
