Koalas, climate, conservation, and the community

Koalas are one of the most globally recognized conservation species. With populations rapidly declining in core forest habitats in northern New South Wales, pressure has mounted on successive governments to create a regionwide park to protect this population from further decline. Establishing a conservation-effective national park at a landscape level in a highly fragmented area with high pressure from alternative land uses, such as forestry, agriculture, and urban development, presents considerable challenges in design. The authors explore how the exclusion of prime koala habitat from the proposed park for logging is inconsistent with koala protection, which needs to consider the integrity of the broader reserve system and be accorded the requisite status of World Heritage. A commentary on the implications from the social quality perspective is provided.