The Nature Conservation Council of NSW, the state’s peak environment organisation, welcomes Labor’s Plan to Save Koalas.
NCC Chief Executive Jacqui Mumford says the plan represents serious and overdue action to address the most pressing threat facing koalas in our state.
“Loss of habitat is the number one reason koalas are being driven towards extinction in NSW.
“This plan is what koalas need, because it contains concrete actions to address that threat.”
The NCC is demanding the Coalition match Labor’s commitments, namely the establishment of the Great Koala National Park and reigning in excessive land clearing.
“Treasurer Matt Kean said he would double koala populations, yet koala habitat continues to be logged and cleared at a terrible rate, says Ms Mumford.
“Labor and independent candidates are presenting strong environmental commitments to voters, so the Coalition can’t afford to take a koala policy written by the Nationals to this election.”
Nature Conservation Council is calling on all parties to deliver:
- An end to native forest logging and transition to a 100% plantation-based timber industry, and
- Assessment, mapping, and protection of koala habitat across the state on public and private land.