Released last week, the State Government’s ‘Reviewing the NSW Koala Strategy’ discussion paper seeks community input on current koala conservation actions being undertaken under the NSW Koala Strategy.

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It invites feedback on initiatives including koala habitat protection, supporting local communities, improving the safety and health of koalas, koala monitoring and research and responses to the impact of climate change.

The discussion paper was released in the lead up to the NSW Koala Summit being held at Taronga Zoo on March 22 2024, which will bring together key stakeholders to review how actions, targets and delivery approaches are working to save koalas around the state.

The NSW Government said it is committed to protecting and ensuring the long-term survival of koalas in the wild and the discussion paper will supplement advice from the Koala Summit on future conservation priorities.

“The NSW Government is committed to saving koalas in the wild,” Ms Sharpe said.

“This discussion paper and the Koala Summit will inform the review of the current Koala Strategy.

“In the lead up to the Koala Summit, we are launching this paper to seek innovative ideas and feedback.”

North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) spokesperson Dailan Pugh said if the State Government is serious about protecting koalas, its highest priority must be to protect koala habitat on public land.

“The Government is asking people to tell them what else they should be doing to protect koala habitat.

“Please tell them to immediately stop logging Koala habitat on public lands.”

Mr Pugh noted that the NSW Government’s 2021 Koala Strategy identifies protecting koala habitat as the top priority in avoiding the extinction of koalas in the wild by 2050.

To this end, the State Government has allocated $71 million to buy private properties and implement conservation agreements over up to 22,000 hectares (ha).

So far 10,000 ha of land has been purchased to add to National Parks, with conservation agreements entered into over 7,700 ha of private land.

However, according to Mr Pugh, only part of this is high quality koala habitat.

“There are 230,000 hectares of State Forests on the NSW North Coast identified as high quality koala habitat by the NSW Government and as Nationally Important Koala Areas by the Commonwealth Government, yet both Governments refuse to stop logging them.”

Consultation on the online discussion paper will close on April 26 2024.

Submissions can be made at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/programs-legislation-and-framework/nsw-koala-strategy/reviewing-the-nsw-koala-strategy.

“Everyone who cares about the future of our precious koalas is encouraged to provide their views,” Ms Sharpe said.

By Andrew VIVIAN