MEDIA RELEASE 27 February 2025

The loggers are once again spreading false information in their attempts to stop the Great Koala National Park (GKNP), this time by claiming that the assessment of Koalas was based upon Koala scat searches when they know it was based upon comprehensive drone surveys that identified actual Koalas.

For the GKNP repeated night time drone surveys were undertaken using infrared at 169 59ha sites to identify individual Koalas, involving 4,000 kms of drone flight by a team of 26 drone pilots.

The results of this unprecedented survey intensity were extrapolated to map the density of Koalas across the GKNP, identifying a total population of 12,000 Koalas, NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh said.

“Loggers had their own GKNP Industry Advisory Panel that oversaw this project from beginning to end, including the final report, without raising any concerns.

“For Forest & Wood Communities Australia to claim that the Koala assessment was based upon scat searches in Koala Hubs is an outrageous lie.

“This is the latest in a series of false news stories the loggers have been promoting.

“Recently the AWU used unverified industry data for the whole of NSW, with over half the wood coming from plantations and private properties, to pretend that the GKNP would result in 9,000 job losses.

“As shown by NEFA, the reality is that there are only 118-218 direct jobs that can be considered at risk within north-east NSW”

“NEFA also recently proved that the Forestry Corporation have been inflating their claimed timber yields by 30% for each of the past three years”

“As revealed by Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal last year the Forestry Corporation has been ‘selling native timber to sawmills for a delivery charge which is below the cost of harvesting and hauling that timber alone’

“The Forestry Corporation lost $29 million last year on their hardwood operations, the loggers do very well out of taxpayers subsidies, no wonder they are prepared to say and do anything to keep them.

“Meanwhile, outside the GKNP they continue to log and clearfell Koala Hubs without bothering to assess or verify their status, Mr. Pugh said.