MEDIA RELEASE, for immediate release
Three koala conservationists from diverse backgrounds, including the ‘Father’ of the Great Koala National Park, have hit out at the NSW government for breaking their election promise to create the Park.
In September 2025, the long-promised park was saddled with a condition – known as the Improved Native Forest Management method (INFM) – to generate carbon offsets for the government to sell to big polluters.
This condition was never part of the proposal for the Great Koala National Park, and has left ecologists, koala groups and Traditional Owners reeling.
Koala expert, and original designer of the Great Koala National Park, Ashley Love, feels betrayed by the NSW government.
In 2010, Love raised money among five local groups and engaged an ecologist to map all the koala populations on the mid north coast. He selected the most important habitat, and the critical linking corridors as a proposed reserve and put that forward as the Great Koala National Park.
“After giving 16 years of my life to developing this Park, I feel sickened that it’s now going to be owned by corporations that can’t, or don’t want to get their emissions under control,” said Love.
“I remember the head of the National Parks and Wildlife Service coming up here, all full of bravado about how they were going to get past the ‘additionality problem’ (that the INFM wasn’t a real carbon emissions reduction). Then last year they came up with a way to get through it,” he said.
“If this goes ahead anybody who does any work on that Park will effectively be working for corporates, so they can pollute more, and threaten the forest more,” he said.
Gumbaynggirr Senior Lore Woman Aunty Alison Buchanan sees the carbon credit condition on the Great Koala National Park as a violation of duty to Country. Dungirr (Koala) is special to her, and has been all her life.
“Dungirr (koala) and these old growth forests aren’t just carbon units on a piece of paper, they are our living family. They hold our stories, our lore and the spirit of our old people and this is something you cannot buy or sell,” said Buchanan.
“The forest on Gumbaynggirr Country isn’t just a bucket that holds carbon, it’s filled with our history, our ceremonies and our old people. Reducing our sacred sites to a carbon storage unit strips the spirit right out of our land,” she said.
“How can we heal our land by creating the Great Koala National Park, if doing that is going to hurt the land of other mobs?” she said.
Koala Clancy Foundation President Janine Duffy says her members are enraged that the NSW government are toying with the lives of endangered koalas, especially with an El Nino summer coming up.
“ I have been following this for years. We want our Great Koala National Park now, without tricks and without dodgy carbon offsets,” said Duffy.
“We all know that climate change is a big killer of koalas, and it’s getting worse every year as carbon increases in the atmosphere,” she said.
“Only genuine carbon emissions reductions through additional carbon storage will give koalas a fighting chance. These phoney carbon credits do more harm than good, effectively creating a cheap license for huge corporations to pollute more when they should be cutting emissions,” she said.
“I see governments, thinking they can trick and bully Aussies into accepting a selloff of our national heritage.”
“It is well known that the Great Koala National Park is the Labor party’s legacy. They can’t afford to hold koalas hostage.”
“Just create the Great Koala National Park as you promised, Premier Minns – no tricks, no offsets.”
Duffy urges people to sign the petition here: https://c.org/Yr28Z5BqwN
“In my view, Aunty Alison says it best: ‘If you’re not caring for country, country won’t look after you’.
ENDS
Meagan Patroni, Communications Lead
Phone: 0400 604 522 | Email: media@koalaclancyfoundation.org.au
Photos and video available.
