Could the Great Koala National Park create revenue through reducing carbon pollution?

It could be another year before the Great Koala National Park is formally established.

Legislation needs to be passed for this to happen, however before it’s brought to  parliament, the NSW Government is seeking approval for a method that could see the park generate revenue through carbon credits. 

The GKNP, which would see the end of native forest logging within its boundaries, is aimed at conserving and protecting the state’s endangered koala population, as well as many other threatened species in the region.

Ending logging would lead to a reduction in carbon emissions, which could earn the government carbon credits, which it could sell.

“The final creation of the park is dependent on the successful registration of a carbon project under the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) Method, which is currently moving through the Federal Government assessment processes,” the NSW Government said. 

The INFM method is a way for the government to “generate Australian Carbon Credit Units through projects that involve the cessation or deferral of native forest harvesting on public land that is designed for commercial forestry use.”

What’s happened so far? The proposed boundaries of the Great Koala National Park were announced last week, alongside a 12-month halt to logging in state forests within the assessment area. 

The NSW Government said this would impact six mills in the region and about 300 jobs. It did not affect operations outside the designated area on private land or in plantations.

Carbon is stored in trees

Stopping logging in native forests reduces greenhouse gases. 

When a tree is cut down and harvested, carbon stored in the tree is released into the atmosphere.

When a tree is not logged, it is able to grow bigger, allowing it to absorb and store more carbon.

Carbon offsetting and credits

The Australian Government, along with all parties to the Paris Agreement, has committed to the global goal of holding the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2 °C of warming.

The Net Zero Plan is a legislated target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, part of the government’s action on climate change.

Australia’s emissions are on track to reach 42.7 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, however, some industries can't eliminate their emissions quickly. Companies within these industries can instead buy "credits" from projects that reduce carbon emissions.

In the case of the GKNP, the NSW government would earn credits by protecting forests that would otherwise be logged, and then sell these credits to polluting companies.

Potential revenue

If the park is registered under the INFM method and carbon credits can be sold, revenue earned could contribute to the cost of establishing and managing the park.

“High integrity carbon credits are a significant opportunity for NSW; they will help fund ongoing roles in the forest managing ecological rehabilitation,” a NSW Government spokesperson told the Mid North Coaster.

A 2024 Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation (ACBF) report found that across NSW the INFM method could generate revenue between $1 billion and $2.7 billion over 15 years.

If the state committed to quarantining this revenue to be spent on national parks, it could pay for 1,700 workers in forest management, the foundation said.

Wilson Harris from the ACBF told the Mid North Coaster that “as long as the method has high integrity and meets the standards”, it would have “positive impacts on both nature and climate”.

“[It would be] a game-changer for forests and management to have such large and ongoing revenue streams dedicated to all sorts of works, especially restoration. That's what we're going to need more of in the future, and bushfire management.”

The Minns state government said it was “exploring the potential benefits of carbon revenue”.

“A big red flag”

NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson said the government’s plan to link legal protection of the park to carbon credit approvals raised “a big red flag”.

“Forest protection should stand on its own and offsets that let big polluters keep emitting are not a climate plan,” Higginson said.

She said “the nature of the idea that you can just get big polluters to pay for conservation is flawed from the outset. Because at the end of the day, conservation of nature is a public benefit and should come out of the public purse”.

Higginson said any delays were “a massive slap for young people, and everyone else, who are trying to avert the worst impacts of climate change. Because ultimately carbon credits will allow those big climate polluters to keep emitting carbon causing global heating”.

What next? There is no official timeline on when the Federal Government will announce whether it has registered the GKNP for the INFM method.

Thumbnail: Aerial of Bongil Bongil National Park within the GKNP proposed boundaries. NSW Government.