<p>Koalas were declared an endangered species in New South Wales in 2022. Two years later, the government made a promise that the conservation world has been waiting decades to hear: a <strong>476,000-hectare national park</strong> — the largest koala conservation area ever proposed — would be created to protect them.</p>
<p>In 2026, that promise is becoming reality.</p>
<h2>What the Park Will Cover</h2>
<p>The Great Koala National Park will integrate <strong>176,000 hectares of state forests</strong> with existing protected areas, forming a vast conservation corridor stretching from Kempsey to Grafton on the NSW Mid North Coast and extending inland to Ebor. The total protected area will reach approximately <strong>476,000 hectares</strong> — roughly the size of Luxembourg.</p>
<p>An estimated population of over <strong>12,000 koalas</strong> live in the proposed park boundaries, along with more than <strong>100 other threatened species</strong>, including around 36,000 greater gliders.</p>
<h2>Logging Already Stopped</h2>
<p>Critically, the NSW Government has already implemented an <strong>immediate moratorium on timber harvesting</strong> across the 176,000 hectares of state forests earmarked for the park. No new logging operations can commence while the transition to national park status is finalised.</p>
<p>The government has committed <strong>$140 million in funding</strong> — $80 million from the 2023–24 State Budget, plus a further $60 million for NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service — to support the park's development.</p>
<h2>Legislation in 2026</h2>
<p>The formal establishment of the park requires a Bill to be introduced to Parliament. The NSW Government has confirmed this will happen in <strong>2026</strong>, pending the successful registration of a carbon project under the Australian Government's Improved Native Forest Management method — a process whose public consultation concluded in January 2026.</p>
<p>Updated proposed park boundaries have been released, designed to facilitate effective long-term management and maximise protection for koalas and other threatened wildlife.</p>
<h2>Why It Matters</h2>
<p>Without intervention, koalas face extinction in NSW by 2050. Their decline is driven by habitat destruction, disease, road accidents, and climate change. Protected continuous forest — where koalas can move, find food, and mate — is their best chance of survival.</p>
<p>The Great Koala National Park would give them 476,000 hectares of exactly that.</p>
<p>For a species that became a symbol of crisis in 2022, it would become a symbol of recovery.</p>
<p><em>Sources: NSW Environment · National Parks NSW · Mongabay (October 2025) · Guardian Australia · WWF Australia</em></p>
