MEDIA RELEASE
7th September, 2025
The Forest Alliance NSW has strongly welcomed the Minns Labor Government's declaration of a 176,000-hectare Great Koala National Park in the Coffs Coast region and an immediate end to logging in this area.
Gary Dunnett from the National Parks Association said: “This park will ensure future generations will be able to see koalas, greater gliders and other threatened species in the wild for many years to come.
“The permanent protection of this magnificent area will also safeguard critical water catchments for the people of the Coffs Coast, protect sacred Indigenous sites and open up huge economic opportunities for regional green tourism. It is truly a win-win for the people of NSW and nature.”
Jacqui Mumford, CEO of the Nature Conservation Council NSW, said: “The conservation and economic values of this park have always been apparent and we welcome a science- and evidence-based decision to deliver the park in full.
"This new park continues a proud Labor legacy of forest protection over many decades and we congratulate Premier Minns and Minister Sharpe on their leadership.
“This decision is a significant next step toward an end to native forest logging across NSW and we look forward to continuing to work with the Government on sensible reforms to protect nature and secure a sustainable plantation-based future for the timber industry in NSW.”
Susie Russell, spokesperson for the North Coast Environment Council, said: “We commend the NSW Government for respecting the science of the assessment, and recognising that all of these forests are of high conservation value.”
Dailan Pugh from the North East Forest Alliance said: “This protects an estimated 12,000 koalas and enables their populations to recover as their feed trees regrow. This is the sort of action we need if we want to double their population in NSW.”
Scott Daines, spokesperson for South East Forest Rescue, said: “This important protection on the North Coast stands in contrast to the ongoing destruction of native forests on the NSW South Coast, where the majority of logged native trees are wood chipped for export and where the state-owned logging company has a terrible record of illegal logging, copping fines of over $2 million since 2020.”
Andrew Wong from Wilderness Australia said: “This is the most significant outcome for forest conservation in NSW in twenty-five years. This is an extraordinary first step towards protecting our native forests. With other critical areas still being logged in other parts of the state, logically there will be more major outcomes to follow.”
Victoria Jack from the Wilderness Society said: “Conservation outcomes don’t get much bigger than this. This historic announcement will give koalas a fighting chance for a future.”
Bob Brown, patron of the Bob Brown Foundation, said: “The announcement of the Great Koala National Park is welcome, but the ongoing slaughter of forests and wildlife in NSW is four times greater, and in this age of mass extinctions and global heating that destruction should stop.”
ENDS
Media contact: Clancy Barnard
Ph: 0438 869 332
Note: Spokespeople are available for comment on request