Chris Minns should think twice before green-lighting an enlarged Koala Park, which would see 176,000 hectares of protection added to more than 136,000 hectares already protected by National Park. That is according to Vikki Campion, a columnist in NSW’s Saturday Telegraph, who said the decision to dismantle the native timber industry—and with it, drive up housing costs—is “thick as two short planks.”
Wood Central understands that the proposed full-scale park would establish the world’s largest koala protection zone on the state’s North Coast. And whilst powerful Environment Minister Penny Sharpe has strongly argued in favour of the park, Campion argues that koalas are already protected under current harvesting prescriptions and that “genuine wildlife corridors could be created without dismantling a $4 billion industry.” Instead, she warned that shutting down native forestry would have “no scientific justification” and only compound pressures on housing affordability.
It comes after Wood Central last month reported that both Premier Minns and Minister Sharpe toured timber mills on the North Coast ahead of the Premier’s “captain’s call” on the industry’s future. Speaking to Wood Central, Timber NSW CEO Maree McCaskill said more than 40% of the supply to hardwood sawmills on the North Coast are tied up in the proposed park area. “Of the 176,000 hectares being assessed, already 100,000 hectares are in conservation protection by NSW State Forests,” McCaskill said. “So 76,000 hectares is the production area that produces some of the most highly prized durable hardwoods in the world.”
“These supply poles, pikes, girders for electricity, transmission, wharves, bridges, and high-grade flooring and decking,” she added. “There are already over 8 million hectares of national parks for the protection of fauna and flora and enhancement of biodiversity. If that is not working, why would 176,000 hectares of managed forests—where koalas and other fauna like gliders are thriving—be better in a national park system that appears not to be working?”
CSIRO Koala Numbers Far Exceed Previous Estimates
Last year, the CSIRO revealed that Australia’s koala population—listed as “Endangered” in Queensland, New South Wales, and the ACT since 2022—is significantly larger than previously estimated. Published as part of the National Koala Monitoring Programme (NKMP), the CSIRO has, since 2023, used expert data rather than opinion to assess koala abundance and habitat disturbance.
The findings are striking: current population estimates range between 287,830 and 628,010—nearly ten times higher than the Australian Koala Foundation’s 2021 forecast of 32,000 to 58,000 following the Black Summer bushfires. In fact, koala numbers now exceed estimates from 2012, when populations were classified as “vulnerable,” not “endangered.”
- To learn more about the Great Koala National Park and how the NSW government can protect koala populations while sustaining its timber industry on the North Coast, visit Wood Central’s special feature.
