- The government of New South Wales has created a vast new protected area, the Great Koala National Park, along Australia’s east coast to safeguard koalas and 66 other threatened native species.
- Conservationists say this could mark a turning point for a species that is declining rapidly as the eucalyptus forests they depend on disappear and climate change sparks more frequent, intense wildfires.
- However, loopholes in land-use regulations, ongoing logging, development pressures and weak enforcement still threaten this key koala habitat.
- Experts warn that without stronger safeguards and consistent policies, the protected area may not be able to foster lasting conservation gains for koalas and other species.
“When I was a kid, forestry was more sustainable,” Mark Graham said, leaning against a massive tree trunk. “Now 30-tonne industrial machines bulldoze everything in their path.” He’s an ecologist who’s worked for state and federal governments — and has often been at odds with the forest industry.
We were walking through the Coffs Harbour Botanic Garden in New South Wales (NSW), southeastern Australia, through a remnant of subtropical coastal rainforest. Graham pointed out flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis) trees — a fast-growing eucalyptus — as well as Bangalow palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) and other trees, some hundreds of years old.
Wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), one of the world’s most beloved animals, also live here. This garden will be linked to the new Great Koala National Park (GKNP) by forest corridors that allow koalas to disperse into new areas. The NSW government says it will finalize designation of the new park in 2026, which it calls “a centerpiece of koala conservation [in the state of NSW],” but no one seems to know when that will be.
Its creation was the culmination of a 13-year campaign led by environmental groups and grassroots organizations. One of the most outspoken figures in that struggle was Mark Graham, a veteran environmental activist who’s often been at odds with the NSW forestry industry.
In 2023, the state government committed to establishing the GKNP on the mid-north coast. It announced creation of this vast new conservation area in September 2025 — and instituted a temporary moratorium on timber harvesting within its boundaries.
The new park will link existing conservation reserves with state forests, creating a protected area of almost 5,000 square kilometers (about 1,900 square miles), making it one of the largest reserves in NSW.
This will create a connected conservation landscape for wildlife, and will protect about 20% of the state’s wild koala population, according to the nonprofit Nature Conservation Council. Jacqui Mumford, who heads the organization, called the park “one of the most significant conservation victories in NSW in decades.” She said the park will link World Heritage Sites and rebuild wildlife corridors.
With koala habitats now heavily fragmented along the east coast, restoring forest connectivity is critical, according to Graham.
“That’s how we protect the environment for the future,” he said.
A long-beleaguered species
In 2022, the Australian government declared koalas endangered under federal law. This iconic animal was once abundant nationwide, until they were decimated by the international fur trade. A study by the nonprofit Australian Koala Foundation estimated that at least 8 million koalas were killed between 1888 and 1927, mostly shipped to London, but also sent to the U.S. and Canada.
Hunting was banned in the early 1900s in NSW, Victoria and South Australia states. But it continued in Queensland until 1927, when the government declared open season and nearly drove them to local extinction: Hunters killed 600,000 koalas in what has been called “Black August.” Public backlash ended the hunt with what is considered to be Australia’s first large conservation movement.
The koala’s history, distribution and population before these hunts is unknown. The most recent IUCN Red List assessment dates to 2014, when it estimated that 300,000 remain, noting that numbers are decreasing. It listed koalas’ conservation status as ‘vulnerable.’
“We are lucky if we have between 200,000 and 300 000 in Australia, and maybe 60,000 to 80,000 in NSW,” said Steve Phillips, one of Australia’s leading koala experts who has worked with the species for more than 40 years throughout the country.
In 2024, the state government’s Koala Science Team surveyed 1,760 km² (680 mi²) of state forest and national parks. They hired 26 pilots who flew drones at night over a three-month period, which produced an estimate of 10,311-14,541 koalas in the proposed national park area.
That number could triple once forests are fully protected from logging, according to environmental groups and conservation advocates such as the National Parks Association of NSW. Meanwhile, koalas have been declining in NSW and Queensland.
When it comes to population trends, experts see a koala paradox: The species is increasing in some areas — and even overpopulating places such as French Island in Victoria — while declining rapidly in others.
This highly specialized, eucalyptus-eating marsupial depends on contiguous habitat, and forests are rapidly falling in NSW to make way for agriculture and urban expansion. Many urban dwellers from Melbourne and Sydney moved up the coast after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Logging has also taken a huge toll, and larger road networks cleave habitat. What remains is a landscape of disconnected green fragments.
Koalas also face other threats such as attacks by dogs and diseases. But climate change looms large, driving more frequent and intense bush fires. Blazes in 2019-20 burned huge swathes of habitat and “at least 5,000 koalas perished,” according to a parliamentary report.
Meanwhile, volunteers are helping restore forests that relink fragmented habitat, which is often on private property. One such volunteer is Sally Cavanagh. She plants young trees on land bordering the new national park. The fast-growing saplings — a mix of about 10 eucalyptus species — form vital wildlife corridors between forest patches.
“I choose threatened species, and trees that koalas prefer,” Cavanagh said. “There used to be rainforest here,” she said, standing among saplings of young eucalyptus trees. “Now we’re bringing it back.”
Confusion about new laws
Since the creation of the park, there has been some confusion about new environment regulations.
State forests are being absorbed into national park land under the state’s National Parks and Wildlife Act. The NSW government announced creation of the Great Koala National Park on Sept. 8, 2025.
Officials also announced a temporary moratorium on timber harvesting, halting all logging of native forest within proposed park boundaries, which came into effect in December. It was put in place, officials said, to allow time for the state government to put a bill before Australia’s parliament to formally designate GKNP.
The ban will stay in place for up to 12 months. When fully passed in parliament later in 2026, the area will become a legally protected national park, with final management plans.
Meanwhile, some landowners are unaware of — or confused by — new rules on land clearing that took effect in December. But lately there have been efforts by the state government to better inform the public, including guidance documents and case studies posted on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website.
Officials have also hosted webinars and met with landowners in person — more than 240 meetings to date — a department spokesperson told Mongabay in an email. “The department has also been meeting regularly with state officials, local councils and agricultural representatives to discuss the changes,” they wrote.
Ongoing logging
According to the environment department, logging has stopped. “[The ban] means that all harvesting operations have ceased, and no new operations will commence,” a department spokesperson wrote.
But the Australian Conservation Foundation and other environmental watchdog groups have documented unapproved destruction and ongoing logging operations.
During our walk through the botanic garden, Graham said forestry companies sometimes claim they’re harvesting plantations while felling native forests within the new park’s proposed boundaries — within known koala habitat.
For Graham, fighting against logging has come at a huge personal cost. He said that he and his family have received verbal threats, warning him to be careful and to “mind his own business.” He’s been verbally abused by forestry workers in cafes, while driving his car and on his own property.
In 2020, Graham and his friend Andre Johnston were walking on a public road not far from Wild Cattle Creek state forest; logging operations were underway nearby. They were assaulted by two workers who worked for Greensill Bros, a logging company contracted by the state-owned NSW Forestry Corporation. It was recorded on a phone, and Graham reported the attack to the Coffs Harbour police who reportedly told him to stop wasting his time and to “get a job.”
It took three years, but Michael Luigi Vitali and Rodney James Hearfield were convicted of assault.
Graham said he’s under constant scrutiny by the forest industry. They follow his every step, he said, because the new protected area impacts about 300 jobs and six timber mills.
While we were walking through the botanic garden, a man approached. He seemed to be listening to our conversation. Graham gestured towards him. “Look. He’s from the forestry industry,” he said quietly. “They’re constantly watching me.”
Then he said, “Logging must stop completely.”
What it takes to save koalas
Phillips, the koala expert, voiced concern that the GKNP is said to be a lifeline for koalas — which, he said, is not necessarily true.
“The GKNP will not help koalas for 20-30 years [because] the area has been so intensively logged,” he said. “Koalas need trees of a certain size, and these forests have been mismanaged and affected by frequent fires, so the animals can’t recover in time.”
The solution, Phillips said, is that the forestry industry should continue to log plantations — and leave the native forests and “the favorite trees of the koalas” alone. Sixteen types of eucalyptus make up native forests, and “the koalas only need 3-4 species to survive.”
“Enough is enough. Get out of the native forests!” he said.
To fight increasingly frequent, dangerous fires, the logging industry needs to rethink how to manage forests, Phillips said. One important mitigation would be creating 50 meter- (164 foot-) wide fire breaks, which would prevent blazes from spreading over big areas and would “take the sting out of them,” he said.
Ecotourism and cultural knowledge
The new park will create new jobs maintaining and protecting the forest. Ecotourism will be central to the area’s future, offering employment opportunities for many, including Indigenous people who can share their deep cultural and ecological knowledge. One such person is Micklo Jarrett — a cultural leader of the Gumbaynggirr people, whose land stretches along the coast of northern NSW.
“Koalas are special in our culture — we call them dunggiirr,” he said, noting that people from his community can work as guides and custodians of the landscape.
There are communities where koalas coexist well with people, Phillips said, citing Koala Beach in northern NSW as an example. The area has a thriving koala population, thanks to “no dogs, speed bumps on the roads and preserved food trees,” he said. “The koalas live in people’s backyards.”
“We are trying to implement the same elsewhere on the east coast.”
Banner image: With koala habitats now heavily fragmented along the east coast, restoring forest connectivity is critical. Image by Tarryn Grignet via Unsplash (Public domain).
Citation:
Steyer, K., Tiesmeyer, A., Muñoz‐Fuentes, V., & Nowak, C. (2018). Low rates of hybridization between European wildcats and domestic cats in a human‐dominated landscape. Ecology and Evolution, 8(4), 2290-2304. doi:10.1002/ece3.3650
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