New South Wales Passes Great Koala National Park Legislation, Protecting 475,000 Hectares and About 12,000 Koalas
SYDNEY — Legislation to create the Great Koala National Park has passed the New South Wales Parliament, the state government announced on October 23, securing lasting protection for one of the state's most significant koala populations. The bill adds 178,000 hectares of state forest and other Crown land to the national park estate, which together with existing national parks and reserves will create one of the largest protected areas in NSW, spanning more than 475,000 hectares on the Mid North Coast. The park will protect habitat for an estimated 12,000 koalas, 36,000 greater gliders and more than 100 threatened species.
The National Park Estate (Great Koala National Park Reservations) Bill 2026, combined with the Clean Energy Regulator's approval of the park's carbon project, clears the final hurdles to establishing the park, which is on track to open before the end of the year, according to the government. Most of the newly added land will be reserved as national park for long-term protection; about 13 percent will be designated regional park, where recreation such as bushwalking, trail running, camping, kayaking, horse riding and mountain-bike riding can continue. The legislation cuts timber harvested from NSW's native forests by approximately 20 percent, with safeguards to prevent logging being shifted elsewhere. Around 100 new National Parks and Wildlife Service roles will be created for park operations, fire management and conservation, and affected Forestry Corporation employees may transition into those roles.
Conservation groups called the passage a historic victory after more than a decade of campaigning. "The Great Koala National Park will protect an estimated 12,000 koalas, 36,000 greater gliders and countless other native animals that call these forests home," said Dermot O'Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia. "Protecting hundreds of thousands of hectares of connected habitat will give koalas and other endangered species room to recover and adapt as the climate changes." The groups also called for further action, including protecting the remaining 1.76 million hectares of native state forest, greater restoration investment, First Nations joint management and a possible World Heritage listing — campaigners' further demands, not settled provisions of the legislation. According to the conservation groups' release, the Liberal Party unexpectedly voted in support of the park, with the bill passing the lower house after minor amendments.
(GSM, from the NSW Government announcement, October 23, 2026, and releases from WWF-Australia and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：攀爬树木的考拉，资料图。照片：Diliff，CC BY-SA 3.0，经Wikimedia Commons。 / A koala climbing a tree (file photo). Photo: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
