SYDNEY: Australia has suspended logging operations across a vast woodland area on the country’s eastern coast to establish a sanctuary for koalas and prevent local population extinction.
The New South Wales government implemented a ban effective from Monday covering 176,000 hectares of forest on the state’s north coast for the creation of a Great Koala National Park.
This decision affects six timber mills and approximately 300 workers in the logging industry.
State authorities warned that without immediate intervention, koalas in Australia’s most populous state could become extinct by 2050.
Environmental experts attribute the dramatic decline in koala numbers across New South Wales to decades of deforestation, drought, and devastating bushfires.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns stated that koalas face extinction in the wild within the state, calling the situation unthinkable.
The government has committed to supporting affected workers and businesses through salary payments and business cost coverage during the transition.
Officials have also promised free access to training programs along with financial, health, and legal services for impacted communities.
The state government initially announced the koala sanctuary plan in 2023 but only halted logging across 8,400 hectares at that time.
The earlier plan faced criticism for not providing immediate tree protection measures.
The Great Koala National Park will serve as a refuge for more than 12,000 koalas and 36,000 greater gliders, which are nocturnal marsupials capable of gliding between trees.
The protected area will also safeguard over 100 other threatened species according to government officials.
The state will invest six million Australian dollars to support new tourism opportunities and small business development in the region.
An additional sixty million Australian dollars has been allocated for park creation, supplementing the eighty million dollars announced in 2023.
Environmental organizations have welcomed the koala park initiative while trade unions have expressed concerns about its impact on logging industry workers.
WWF-Australia chief executive Dermot O’Gorman noted that koala numbers in New South Wales decreased by more than half between 2000 and 2020 due to environmental pressures.
The park represents an opportunity to reverse this decline and potentially remove koalas from the threatened species list by 2050.
These tall eucalypt forests function as climate refuges for koalas, providing essential habitat protection against warming temperatures.
When connected with existing national parks, the koala sanctuary will form a 476,000-hectare reserve according to state government plans.
Unions argue that the koala reserve exceeds the size recommended by government experts and will severely impact local communities.
Australian Workers Union New South Wales secretary Tony Callinan emphasized that the issue is not about being pro or anti koala conservation.
The union supports koala protection but opposes what it considers unnecessary destruction of an entire industry and supporting communities.
Final establishment of the koala park depends on federal government approval as a carbon project for improved native forest management.
Australia’s national koala monitoring program estimates between 95,000 and 238,000 koalas inhabit eastern states including Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory.
Another 129,000 to 286,000 koalas are estimated to live in Victoria and South Australia according to official population figures. – AFP
