Koala conservation policies announced by the major parties will have little real impact because they are based on flawed data, the Australian Koala Foundation believes.
The foundation's mapping experts who analysed State Vegetation Type Mapping produced by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment said the state-wide maps contained many gaps and inconsistencies.
They argued the mapping appeared to take a "lowest-common denominator dataset approach" and failed to identify habitat at a fine scale, which is crucial for koala conservation.
In contrast, the Australian Koala Foundation has produced a peer-reviewed scientific Koala Habitat Atlas - which maps the entire geographic habitat of the Koala across 1.5 million square kilometres.
An analysis of the Port Stephens Local Government Area, where there is pressure for koalas to be listed as critically endangered due to their drastic decline, found the government vegetation mapping downgraded primary habitat by 80 per cent compared to the Koala Habitat Atlas.
In addition, it found that 94 per cent of primary habitat had been missed within Medowie, Tilligery and Salamander Bay compared to the foundation's equivalent mapping
"We simply cannot and will not incorporate this incorrect data into our Koala Habitat Atlas," Foundation chairwoman Deborah Tabart said.
"By severely under-mapping primary koala habitat, the NSW Government is essentially falsely highlighting areas where koalas cannot survive - potentially paving the way for devastating habitat clearing.
"SVTM appears to be a compendium of several maps, and because of the NSW Government's desire for a consistent state-wide mapping dataset, rather than on an LGA basis, many of the underlying maps have lost valuable information."
She said that without correct mapping the Government and Opposition plans for a koala national park would be destined to fail.
"Rectifying the data flaws of SVTM should be a major priority for the incumbent or incoming government," she said.
The Newcastle Herald reported last month that more research was urgently needed to fill knowledge gaps about koala populations in Cessnock and Lake Macquarie.
The NSW Koala Strategy shows that both Local Government Areas contain areas of regional koala significance with about 44 per cent of vegetation classified as preferred koala habitat.
However, a significant amount of habitat has been threatened following the 2019-2020 bushfires. About 30 per cent (58,497 ha) of Cessnock Local Government Area burnt close to areas where long-standing resident koala populations are known to live.
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