A new national park will be established in the NSW Southern Highlands as part of the state government's commitment to protecting koalas - but conservationists say it's too little too late.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday announced the new 3680-hectare park would be created 25 kilometres northwest of Bowral.
The premier also announced a $150 million investment to upgrade facilities within the state's national parks.
Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton says the new park contains prime koala habitat and will link wildlife corridors from the Blue Mountains to the south coast.
"There is core koala habitat there which is something we will make as secure as we can," Ms Upton told reporters in Sydney.
About 2000 hectares of the land was acquired from a private property owner as part of the state government's $20 million kitty to buy koala-inhabited land from landowners.
It will officially be declared a national park within six months when the first section of 500 hectares is expected to be opened to the public.
The rest of the land will gradually be rolled out as national parkland.
The NSW Nature Conservation Council said it didn't compensate for the coalition's "terrible" record on koala conservation.
"The truth is the Berejiklian government has a terrible record in this area and has actually legalised the destruction of koala habitat on a scale not seen for a generation," chief executive Kate Smolski said in a statement on Monday.
The Berejiklian government was criticised in 2018 after it passed laws which allowed landholders to clear sections of native bushland on their property without prior environmental assessment.
The coalition also came under scrutiny after setting aside 24,000 hectares of land for koala conservation which the NCC claimed only contained two per cent of high-quality koala habitat.
The government services union lashed out at the coalition for cutting National Parks and Wildlife Service staff.
"Parks are more than lines on a map - they require rangers and administrative and support staff - the very things this government has slashed," Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little said in a statement.
NSW opposition leader Michael Daley accused the government of "pretending" to champion the environment when in fact it was being "clobbered".
The National Parks Association of NSW says the government inflated by 40 per cent the size of Monday's announcement by including 1510 hectares of already protected land in the total of 3680 hectares.
The association "cautiously" welcomed the new park but at the same time attacked the coalition for passing new land clearing laws in late 2016 and new logging legislation in late 2018.
Australian Associated Press
