Logging has been halted in NSW forests flagged as potential sites for koala hubs as the state government seeks to save the iconic species from extinction.
However conservationists say large areas of habitat remain unprotected and more needs to be done to safeguard the state's koala population.
The Minns Labor government has committed to establishing a Great Koala National Park on the state's mid-north coast, including 106 koala hubs.
While work to establish the park is carried out, the government announced timber harvesting had been halted by the NSW Forestry Corporation from September 1.
The proposed koala hubs cover more than 8400ha of state forest in areas where there is strong evidence of multi-generational, high-density populations of the marsupial.
The hubs cover about five per cent of the Great Koala National Park assessment area, but contain 42 per cent of recorded wild koala sightings since 2000.
The government is in talks with the forestry corporation on the next steps of the ban and to determine timber supply options.
Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the park was essential for saving koalas from extinction in NSW.
"The government is taking serious steps towards its creation and will work closely with the community, Aboriginal organisations and industry as the areas for inclusion in the park are assessed," she said.
Greens environment spokeswoman Sue Higginson initially welcomed the pause on logging but later took a much tougher stance, saying it only protects five per cent of the proposed park area while leaving large swathes of important habitat vulnerable to logging.
“The Government’s announcement today needs to be called out for what it really is - a gift to the timber industry at the cost of continuing the koala extinction logging and an enormous delay in the delivery of the promised Great Koala National Park," Ms Higginson said.
She said the government needed to go further to protect the state's at-risk koala population.
"Koala hubs should be protected across the entire public native forest estate at a minimum, not as a bold announcement about a proposed national park," Ms Higginson said.
"If we don’t stop destroying (koala) habitat across the state, they will be extinct before 2050.
"Voluntary undertakings by the forestry corporation to avoid koala hubs within one area of the public forest estate, while good, will not make the difference that koalas need."
World Wide Fund for Nature conservation scientist Dr Stuart Blanch said the new National Park would not only benefit koalas, but also hundreds of other species including endangered greater gliders, long-nosed potoroos, and glossy black-cockatoos.
Dr Blanch also called on the government to go further with immediate conservation measures, including a halt on logging of koala feed trees within the proposed National Park and transitioning the entire industry towards sustainable timber plantations.
“It’s fantastic that koala hubs will be protected, but this still leaves more than 160,000 hectares vulnerable to logging until the park is created," he said.
