I write with concern about the proposed loss of up to 100 hectares of koala habitat under the current Port Macquarie Airport development plan.
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I have written to the Environment Minister to urge her to review the proposal and intervene to protect the local population of koalas at Port Macquarie.
I note the NSW Government's own Report of the Independent Review into the Decline of Koala Populations in Key Areas of NSW found that the Port Macquarie-Hastings region is home to a large and "nationally significant" koala population. The report also notes that data now shows the population is beginning to decline, with habitat fragmentation a significant cause of this decline.
A 'koala roundtable' held in Port Macquarie in 2016 found that current trends indicate the koala population could be reduced to local extinction within 50 years.
Koala habitat and koala populations are in almost universal decline around New South Wales, but the Port Macquarie population is one of the largest coastal populations in the nation and should be a prime target to bolster the species.
Under the Berejiklian Government's tree clearing laws, these and other populations of koalas are now under threat from dubious offsetting available to those wanting to clear their habitat.
If the Minister cannot guarantee that the proposal will not lead to a decline in the local population of koalas, she should step in and stop it.
Penny Sharpe MLC
Shadow Minister for the Environment
