NSW govt under fire as trees fall in koala heartland

And while there's nothing particularly new about anti-logging activists and the timber industry being at war, this time there's plenty of common ground and shared emotion.

In the crosshairs is the new Labor government and its vague, nebulous promise to create an "iconic" Great Koala National Park to help ward off the extinction of wild koalas in NSW.

Labor has long supported the creation of such a park - a concept developed and pursued by a collective of conservation groups for a decade or so.

When the party won government in March, it was the second time it had gone to an election promising to make the park a reality so it's no flash-in-the-pan policy.

"I don't accept that one of our most loved and iconic native species could become extinct here in just 28 years' time," Chris Minns told voters in January.

He pledged $80 million to protect an expanse of habitat on the mid-north coast between Kempsey and Coffs Harbour and in the process safeguard 20 per cent of the wild koalas NSW has left.

But five months into the job, activists and the timber industry alike are screaming for details. A map. Any skerrick that might hint at Labor's intentions and the eventual outcome.

And as time drags on, the government-owned Forestry Corporation is continuing to log in state forests ecologists have identified as prime habitat - areas they say must be included in the park if it is to have integrity.

Conservationists can't fathom why the government won't - at the very least - enforce a moratorium on logging in high-value areas that have long appeared on their proposed boundary maps for the park.

On the flip side, the timber industry says it's also stuck in a waiting game and fears death by a 1000 cuts for an industry that employs almost 9000 people statewide if "engine-room" hardwood production areas become off limits.

What both sides agree on is Labor's plans are intangible.

Gary Dunnett is the executive officer of the National Parks Association of NSW, which has led the long-running campaign for the koala park.

He says the original vision was to amalgamate about 40 existing national parks and other reserves, and roughly the same number of state forests, including areas subject to logging.

He accepts Labor has always been clear - including during the campaign - that they endorse "a" Great Koala National Park rather than "the" park the National Parks Association has pushed for.

"We took that to mean they also recognised that there was some finessing that was going to need to be done, around exactly which parts of the state forest would come across," Mr Dunnett says.

But the wait for detail feels interminable, as logging crews continue to fell trees in prime habitat.

"It's sort of insane to have Forestry Corporation not just logging in genuine plantations but in fact targeting areas that are really high quality koala habitat, within undisputed native forests.

"That should and must be an exception to their reticence to put a moratorium in place. The crazy thing is that the NSW government has got all that koala mapping. They know where the areas of really high value are."

Timber NSW has its own set of frustrations around the absence of detail.

"There's been no designated areas. Everyone is operating off the only area that is purportedly been mapped out, which is the one that's been done by the National Parks Association," says CEO Maree McCaskill,

Timber NSW represents the state's timber and forest products industry and works with the Forestry Corporation and private forest owners to meet demand for hardwoods and softwoods.

She rejects the suggestion that legal logging, with all the appropriate environmental safeguards, should be halted while the park's boundaries are nutted out.

"No because these are approved areas of state forest ... legal coups approved for harvest. They are going ahead with the plan that has already been submitted and approved by the Environment Protection Authority."

Ms McCaskill says the lack of clarity has the entire industry feeling incredibly nervous, especially in light of Victoria and Western Australia moving to end native forest logging within the next six months.

"We haven't had any representations or meetings with anyone from the Labor government since they gained power," she says.

"The area designated for the Great Koala National Park is one of the big engine rooms of the NSW hardwood industry so if it falls, then it's going to have knock on effect, right round. And our opponents know that."

The ongoing loss of habitat in areas that may wind up inside the koala park is a particularly hot potato for NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe.

A couple of years ago, when she was in opposition, she served on a parliamentary inquiry that found koalas would become extinct before 2050 without urgent government action to protect habitat and address other threats.

That inquiry also recommended the koala park be pursued as a solution.

Lately she's been reminding voters that Labor promised two things before the election: a koala park, but also no moratorium on forestry activities.

The minister did not directly answer AAP's questions this week about whether ongoing, selective logging might compromise the integrity of the park.

"The government is working to deliver this commitment as soon as possible and will soon have more to say publicly about how the establishment of the park will be undertaken," she replied.

Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said the government had to balance sustainable forestry with habitat protection while stressing there'll be no moratorium and "this is not an end to logging".

"We have been clear from the start - we're committed to a Great Koala National Park. But we won't do a moratorium on logging."

For the likes of Gary Dunnett, from the National Parks Association of NSW, there's a lot to be read into careful references to "a" park.

"There's certainly plenty of wriggle room. And the primary wriggle room is that they've been very careful in their semantics, around referring to a Great Koala National Park."

Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, who chaired the the parliamentary inquiry into koalas back in 2020, says what voters will end with is about as clear as mud.

She's just returned from a visit to some of the logging sites where local conservation groups and activists have been protesting.

"They are just so distressed that this is happening under the government that has committed to the Great Koala National Park.

"We're talking about what you really would say is the heart of the park. Some of that's been logged now, some of it was logged a few weeks ago, and some of it is due to be logged in a few days. It's an emergency, it really is."

The Forestry Corporation says native forest logging is always selective, with areas set aside for habitat in all harvest areas, with koala habitat mapped across the landscape and preferred feed and habitat trees protected.

It says there's been no intensification of harvesting in any area of the north coast, and activities are in accordance with its annual plan of operations.

Australian Associated Press