What: Koala Day of Action, June 5. The campaign to save the koala from extinction continues with a rally in Hyde Park and other locations this Saturday calling on the government to strengthen legal protections for the species.
When: 11am, Saturday, June 5
Where: Hyde Park (near the Archibald Fountain), Sydney
Who:
- Uncle Bruce Shillingsworth, Muruwari and Budjiti man
- Alea Babeck, School Strike for Climate
- Dorothee (Doro) Babeck, Campaign Organiser, Bob Brown Foundation
- Chris Gambian, Chief Executive, Nature Conservation Council
- Mark Pearson MLC, Animal Justice Party
- David Shoebridge MLC, Greens Party
BACKGROUND
- Koala populations in NSW have plummeted in the past 30 years - estimated to be fewer than 20,000 before the Black Summer Bushfires that destroyed almost 25% of koala habitat on public land.
- In late 2019, the NSW Government introduced a new Koala State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala SEPP 2019) that marginally increased legal protections for koalas.
- In late 2020, the National Party threatened to “blow up” the Coalition if the SEPP was not scrapped. The Nationals objected to the policy controlling logging on private land (private native forestry) and land clearing for farming and property development.
- To end the war, the Coalition partners agreed to:
- Limit the application of the new Koala SEPP to Sydney, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains;
- Exclude rural areas from the new Koala SEPP; and
- “Protect” koalas in rural areas through amended land-clearing and logging codes.
- Conservation groups and environmental lawyers have grave concerns the new codes will weaken rather than strengthen protections.
- The process for developing those new codes, a new Koala Strategy, and the timing for the release of both, have still not been made public.
OTHER EVENTS IN NSW – SATURDAY JUNE 5
- Lismore: 12pm-5pm, Lismore Environment Centre, 1/115 Molesworth St, Lismore. Host: Lismore Environment Centre. Facebook event details.
- Bowral: 11am, Corbett Plaza, Bowral. Host: WinZero - Wingecarribee Net Zero Carbon Emissions. Facebook event details.
- Coolongolook: 10am-2pm. Out the front of the Coolongolook Oval on the Pacific Highway. Host: Midcoast Knitting Nannas. Facebook event details.
- Hornsby 10:30am-12:30pm, Hornsby Water Clock. Host: Hornsby Shire Climate Action. Facebook event details.
- Ku-ring-gai Chase 7:30am sharp. 6.5km rally and bushwalk ($10 donation). National Park entry car park, Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd, Mount Colah. Host: My Outdoor Recreational Group.
- Tahmoor: 11:30am. In front of Nathaniel Smith MP's office, 117 Remembrance Drive, Tahmoor. Host: Save Mt. Gilead.
- Full list available here