AN update on the assessment process for the Great Koala National Park (GKNP) from Environment Minister Penny Sharpe has been met with scepticism by conservation groups.

The Community Advisory Panel for the GKNP, which includes representatives from local government, conservation groups and tourism organisations, met on Monday 23 September in Coffs Harbour.

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The Industry Advisory Panel, featuring representatives from industry groups and unions, met a day later.

The Aboriginal Advisory Panel also recently met and has previously held two gatherings of Indigenous elders.

“The assessment process for the park is considering detailed analysis of environmental, economic, social, ecological and cultural matters,” Ms Sharpe said in a statement to media last Wednesday.

“This week’s meetings included discussions about the draft results of a recent survey for koalas as as well as an update on the assessment of wood fibre supply and industry in the assessment area.”

A draft report estimates the koala population in the 176,000 ha assessment area is 12,111 koalas, with a 95 percent confidence interval of 10,311 to 14,541 koalas.

“The draft analysis of koala populations will now be peer-reviewed,” Ms Sharpe said.

“The panels are also being asked to consider and provide input on analyses on the level of wood fibre supply and number of processors in the north-east Regional Forest Agreement area, with a focus on quantifying industry in the assessment area.”

The Minister said the panels will continue to meet over coming months and further work will be done to refine these and other analyses, which will be given to the panels to consider and provide feedback to inform the government’s final decision on the GKNP.

Conservationists, however, are unhappy at the pace of deliberations.

Nature Conservation Council NSW Chief Executive Officer Jacqui Mumford told NOTA, “As we speak, vast swathes of the proposed Great Koala National Park are being logged and destroyed at the exact same time that it is being assessed for protection.

“It doesn’t make sense.

“With this species on the brink of extinction, we can’t afford another year of destruction of this key koala habitat while the slow bureaucratic process of gazetting the park continues.

“We strongly urge the government to protect the full network of 315,000 hectares of state forests and national parks being considered for the new park.”

Bellingen Environment Centre President Cath Eaglesham agrees, saying progress is “way too slow”.

“The NSW Environment Minister has not yet delivered the GKNP that Labor first promised nine years ago, in January 2015.”

Ms Eaglesham said there are thirteen logging operations authorised inside the footprint of the GKNP as of the end of September 2024.

“This delay is inexcusable,” she said.

By Andrew VIVIAN