A petition calling on NSW Environment Minister and Treasurer Hon Matt Kean to purchase a 200-hectare area of koala habitat in Port Macquarie is gaining traction.

The land, which is currently for sale as a development opportunity, is considered one of the last significant koala breeding grounds in the region.

The government has the ability to purchase the land at 147 The Ruins Way, Lake Innes, with budget already allocated to the NSW Koala Strategy.

In late 2020, the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council recommended the land be added to the NSW national parks estate, and local member The Hon. Leslie Williams MP also recognised the importance of the area and requested it be purchased by the NSW government.

In 2019, the koala population suffered massive casualties during the bushfires and the remaining unburnt core habitat around Lake Innes has become critical to sustain those that survived the fires.

That land is now under threat due to ongoing land clearing for greenfield urban development.

As well as the koala population, the property also is provides habitat for numerous other threatened species including the critically endangered Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater, plus threatened forest owls, Square-tailed Kite, Little Lorikeet, Varied Sitella, Glossy-Black Cockatoo and Grey-headed Flying Fox.

Sign the petition here.