Economic Costs & Benefits of Creating the Richmond River Koala Parks

Independent analysis shows that protecting the proposed 56,000 ha Richmond River KoalaParks (RRKPs) is overwhelmingly in the public interest — economically, socially, and environmentally.

What Are the Expected Economic Impacts?

Job impacts: 

The RRKPs currently supply about 6.5% of the timber taken from north-east NSW’s public native forests. Based on this, an estimated 20–40 direct timber jobs may be affected if the area is fully protected.

However, these workers are expected to receive generous redundancy, retraining, and transition support, like the package announced for the Great Koala National Park (GKNP), which unions and industry have described as fair and dignified.

Public cost of continuing to log:

Forestry Corporation currently loses more than $1.53 million each year logging just the RRKP forests — a cost carried by taxpayers. This does not include additional public subsidies for roads, bridges, and mill upgrades.

What Are the Economic Benefits of Protection?

Protecting the RRKPs delivers significant long-term benefits:

• Recovering wildlife and ecosystems, including dozens of threatened species
• Increased carbon sequestration, helping meet climate targets
• Higher water yields and reduced flood risk
• Reduced fire intensity as forests mature
• A major tourism boost, following patterns expected in the GKNP
• New jobs in park management, conservation, science, and nature-based tourism

Studies of the Great Koala National Park show that forest protection can generate:

• 9,000+ new jobs in tourism over 15 years
• Over $1 billion in increased economic output
• Significant carbon sequestration benefits

Multiple independent reports (Blueprint Institute, Frontier Economics, University of Newcastle) conclude thatthe long-term economic gains from tourism and carbon alone outweigh the cost of industry restructuring.

What Would a Transition Cost?

Based on comparable studies, a structural adjustment package for the RRKPs is likely to cost in the order of $14 million — a fraction of the annual losses taxpayers currently absorb to keep logging going.

Bottom Line

Creating the Richmond River Koala Parks is a sound investment.

It replaces an industry currently running at a loss with long-term economic benefits and a sustainable future for workers, communities, and wildlife.

If you'd like the full analysis, you can read Dailan Pugh's detailed economic assessment (North east Forest Alliance, November 2025) here