Arabic version: نيو ساوث ويلز تنشئ متنزه الكوالا العظيم الوطني

According to ABC News, the NSW parliament has passed legislation officially creating the Great Koala National Park after more than a decade of campaigning.

The park will cover 478,000 hectares between Kempsey and Grafton on the Mid North Coast, making it New South Wales’s second-largest national park. It will combine existing national parks with more than 178,000 hectares of state forest and Crown Land.

The legislation passed after more than 14 hours of Legislative Council debate and consideration of about 160 amendments. NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the park would protect more than 100 species of flora and fauna and described the decision as a defining moment for conservation in the state.

The federal Clean Energy Regulator registered land for a carbon-credit project, with more than 117,000 hectares designated for carbon protection after native forest logging ends in the park’s state forest areas. A logging moratorium was introduced last year, alongside a transition package for affected workers.

Conservationist Ashley Love called the park a big step forward, while noting fragmentation and connectivity gaps between some sections. Timber New South Wales president Andrew Hurford said the logging ban had affected regional businesses, and Forestry Corporation of NSW announced in July it would cut more than 30 Coffs Harbour jobs linked to the park’s impacts.