Park to protect 12,000 koalas to go ahead via contentious carbon credit deal by Albanese government

NSW Labor says a koala park will protect old-growth forests, at least 12,000 koalas and more than 100 other threatened species. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images View image in fullscreen NSW Labor says a koala park will protect old-growth forests, at least 12,000 koalas and more than 100 other threatened species. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images Park to protect 12,000 koalas to go ahead via contentious carbon credit deal by Albanese government Minns government waiting on federal approval of carbon credit scheme before proceeding with long-awaited great koala national park Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A long-promised New South Wales great koala national parkis set to go ahead after the Albanese government greenlit the state to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for protecting native forests previously earmarked for logging. The assistant Climate Change minister, Josh Wilson, told Nine newspapers the government had approved the awarding of carbon credits to state governments for storing carbon dioxide in native forests on public land. Each carbon credit is said to represent one kilogram of emissions that has been prevented or sucked from the atmosphere – most often in trees or the landscape – rather than released to contribute to global heating. Their use is contentious, partly because polluting companies are allowed to buy an unlimited number of credits – also known as offsets – to count as their own cuts while continuing to pollute. Scientists have warned limiting the climate crisis requires rapid direct cuts in emissions and that carbon offsets should be used sparingly. The NSW government, which proposed the new method to create carbon credits, had been waiting on federal approval of the new carbon credit before delivering an election commitment to add 176,000 hectares of national park near Coffs Harbour. NSW Labor first promised a koala park while in opposition more than a decade ago. It confirmed its commitment in September, saying it would protect old-growth forests, at least 12,000 koalas and more than 100 other threatened species. Campaigners were concerned authorities may respond to the creation of the park by ramping up forestry elsewhere, but the final design of the carbon credit method aims to prevent this by reducing and capping the amount of logging allowed, as carbon credits are issued. The state environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the carbon credit revenue would benefit regional communities by creating diversified revenue streams and 100 new jobs in the national park. She said the government would now register its carbon project plan with the federal Clean Energy Regulator. Conservation organisations were split in their response to the announcement. Dailan Pugh, from the North East Forrest Alliance, said it was a “gamechanger” that could allow the recovery of an area that had lost half its stored carbon as big trees were removed. The Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, led by former federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry, said the method was a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive down greenhouse gas emissions”. The Nature Conservation Council said it put a financial value on the carbon stored in the forests, strengthening the case for stopping native forest logging completely. Campaigner Clancy Barnard said the council welcomed the inclusion of strong safeguards to prevent logging and clearing “simply shifting elsewhere”. The Wilderness Society opposed the change, arguing it would allow big emitters to continue polluting, and called for native forests to be protected without offsetting. Its Tasmanian forest campaigner, Hughie Nicklason, said carbon credit schemes had “repeatedly been decried as a sham”. Some critics challenged the justification for the new method. Under carbon accounting rules, credits can only be created if they represent an “additional” emissions reduction – that is, the project delivering the reduction would not have happened otherwise. NSW Labor’s public position has been that the koala park depended on carbon credits. But government sources have also indicated it intended to create it with or without that revenue. NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said the logging industry was unprofitable and the government should end it regardless of carbon credit revenue. “Reducing our forests in NSW to cash cows and offsets for climate polluters … sends a signal across the country that governments can disregard the intrinsic value of nature in favour of the latest get-out-of-jail-free card for climate polluters,” she said. The Bob Brown Foundation’s patron, former Australian Greens leader Christine Milne, said NSW Labor had retrofitted an election promise by making it conditional on creating offsets for polluting industry. “It is typical Labor party bastardry,” she said. “Carbon credits are shonky and lack integrity.” The Australian Forest Products Association accused the government of prioritising politics over science, and said the method did not meet requirements for “integrity, transparency or additionality”. Its acting chief executive, Richard Hyett, said he was “gutted by this controversial decision”. Wilson told Nine newspapers the Albanese government had “no plans to end logging” and using carbon credit revenue to protect forests was “a voluntary option for state governments to diversify their regional economies”. He said the revenue could be spent in areas including ecotourism and carbon land management. Explore more on these topics New South Wales news Share Reuse this content