The announcement by the NSW Government to deliver their cornerstone environmental commitment from the 2023 election marks an important milestone for Koalas in NSW. The creation of the Great Koala National Park is a globally significant step by the Minns Government that will help secure the future of this iconic species which was listed as endangered in NSW, QLD and the ACT in 2022.
It also shows that protecting our environment can go hand in hand with supporting jobs on the mid north coast. The Minns Governments plan to protect part of the forest as carbon credits will generate revenue which can be reinvested in local jobs looking after the bush.
This is the single largest forested area gazetted as national park in NSW in over two decades and by far the most meaningful step taken to protect koalas in the wild since they were listed as endangered. It is also the first project in Australia to propose using revenue from carbon credits to help pay for the park.
The Great Koala National Park assessment area will see Australia’s first carbon storage projects using the proposed INFM method. It will help make up critical protected area while generating millions of dollars that can be invested in jobs looking after the bush. It is essential that the Minns Government commit to reinvesting the money from carbon credits into forest management and regional jobs.
This is a major milestone which could signal a step-change for how multi-use public native forests are managed, providing an additional way of creating revenue from these forests other than destroying them. A 2024 report by Mandala showed that if INFM was applied across all eligible state forests in NSW, there would be $1.5 billion in revenue up for grabs and an additional 1700 full time regional jobs managing the bush for fire, weeds, pests and access.
