NEFA President Dailan Pugh OAM discusses the dire situation in Braemar State Forest.

Why should we prioritise the protection of State Forests if we want to save Koalas?

• On the north coast 215,000 ha (20%) of DPIE's high quality Koala habitat (KHSM classes 4&5) occurs on State Forests
• On the north coast 234,000 ha (24%) of the Commonwealth’s Nationally Important Koala Areas occur on State forests.
• It is in public ownership, so large areas can be easily and immediately protected.
• Occurs in a forest matrix relatively free of urban fragmentation impacts (ie domestic dogs and traffic).
• Large areas degraded by loss of preferred koala feed trees >30 cm diameter still has tree cover capable of relatively rapid restoration of habitat values (compared to new plantings)

TO HELP SAVE KOALAS FROM EXTINCTION IN THE WILD BY 2050, THE NSW GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO:

1. Protect State Forests where we know Koalas live

We can start with protecting Koala Hubs identified in 2017 by the Office of Environment and Heritage as "highly significant local scale areas of koala occupancy currently known for protection". Almost 20,000 ha (19%) of Koala Hubs occur on State forests… This government considered them so important that they belatedly protected 8,400 hectares of Koala Hubs in the proposed Great Koala National Park (GKNP) in September 2023, though they refused to protect the the 11,400ha of Koala Hubs on State Forests outside the GKNP, and continue to log them.

And other known areas of particular importance, such as Braemar State Forest. In 2019 NEFA identified outstanding densities of Koalas in a pre-logging survey, witnessed >70% killed in the October wildfires, put out water to aid the survivors as the drought continued, watched as most habitat was reoccupied, and then in 2023 took the Forestry Corporation to court try to stop the logging after Penny Sharpe refused to intervene. Now the continued existence of this population is at risk as over 70% of their preferred mature feed trees are being logged.

2. Require they look before they log to identify other Koala homes

If the Forestry Corporation happen to see a Koala when logging, they need to wait for it to flee before they can cut down its tree. The Forestry Corporation have proven time and time again that they can't identify Koalas in occupied habitat, so surveys must be independent.

3. Retain all preferred Koala feed tree species in potential habitat to facilitate recovery

MOST IMPORTANTLY, IF YOU WANT TO SAVE KOALA'S HOMES WE NEED YOUR HELP TO CREATE THE POLITICAL WILL. HERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO:

Lobby Premier Chris Minns on his website, asking for him to stop logging Koalas' homes on State Forests, request a response.

Make a submission to The NSW Koala Strategy, by either:

• simply requesting koalas' homes on State Forests be protected from logging, by emailing [email protected]
  
• or taking a few minutes to fill out their online form dealing with issues in more detail, see NEFA's submission guide on save Koalas' homes.  

The NSW Government is reviewing its 2021 Koala Strategy, the thrust of which is to do nothing about protecting Koala homes on State Forests, and only protecting Koala homes on private land where the landowners want to sell or enter voluntarily conservation agreements. It’s open slather for those wanting to destroy Koala habitat. If you care about Koalas, please take a few minutes to make a submission to help save Koala’s homes.