A NSW upper house inquiry, which released the report on June 30, was established due to significant concern at the scale of loss to koala populations across NSW.
The report found the biggest threat to koala populations in the state was habitat loss due to logging, mining, and land clearing.
The committee made 42 recommendations to the NSW government.
The committee chair Cate Faehrmann demanded urgent intervention including the building of a Great Koala National Park on the NSW Mid North Coast.
Local koala expert and ecologist David Paull expressed concern for the Shenhua mine proposal, saying that mining had “significantly reduced prime areas of habitat for koalas and other threatened wildlife.”
He verified in the inquiry that over 1,000 hectares of koala habitat had been lost by mining companies in the Leard Forest, just north of the Shenhua mine area. Further, clearing by mining companies has led to the White-Box-Yellow Box-Red Gum Woodland declining by 93 percent of its former extent.
The construction of a mine can threaten habitats with roads, cars, power lines, and fencing, which “creates a hostile landscape for koalas and results in higher numbers of injury and death,” the report said.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was pleased with the government’s work in koala protection.
“If we hadn’t taken action, we would’ve seen those populations continue to diminish and I’m incredibly proud that we put tens of millions of dollars into protecting koalas across the state,” Berejiklian said.