Dr Tim Cadman has become one of Australia’s most determined forest defenders. His focus? Saving the region’s native ecosystems from industrial logging and exposing the quiet disappearance of koala habitats—particularly in areas no one expected.
Despite the Mid-North Coast’s reputation as a pristine haven, it is, in Tim’s words, “a battlefield.” Logging continues with alarming speed, carving into both public and private lands under the banner of industry. The proposed Great Koala National Park is being hailed by many as a long-overdue breakthrough for conservation. But to Tim, it’s a dangerously incomplete gesture.
At the heart of his concern lies a little-known truth: plantation forests—often dismissed as ecological dead zones—are, in fact, home to thriving koala populations. These zones are not included in the current park proposal. According to government estimates, between 10,000 and 12,000 koalas inhabit the proposed park footprint. Tim and his team believe there are at least 1,000 to 2,000 more living in plantation areas nearby. If logging resumes there, it could permanently wipe out 10% of the regional koala population.
“Koalas don’t care where we draw lines on a map,” he says. “They go where the food is. And right now, that includes plantations that haven’t been touched in 50 years.”
Tim’s campaign is about more than numbers. It’s about rethinking what conservation looks like in the 21st century. Instead of clinging to the idea that only untouched old-growth forests are worth saving, he argues for a broader vision—one that protects functioning ecosystems, wherever they are found.
His team’s work is equal parts science, grassroots organising, and ground-truthing. Armed with little more than GPS devices, iPads loaded with historical aerial images, and field notebooks, Tim and a dedicated network of citizen scientists are uncovering what government maps and policy documents have missed—or ignored. Their findings have consistently shown that supposed “plantation” land often includes remnant native forest teeming with life.
One of their most promising tools is a trial GPS backpack system that could allow for accurate tree-level mapping under thick canopy. If successful, it could eliminate one of the forestry industry’s key defences: plausible deniability. “No more pretending they didn’t know the koalas were there,” Tim says. “This tech could change everything.”
More Information
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2EzzTU8wJCxBUnWvUBGW_A
https://greaterkoalapark.org/
https://timcadman.wordpress.com/
https://theconversation.com/a-home-among-the-gum-trees-will-the-great-koala-national-park-actually-save-koalas-217276
https://theconversation.com/profiles/tim-cadman-5896
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379163060_Koalas_Climate_Conservation_and_the_Community_A_Case_Study_of_the_Proposed_Great_Koala_National_Park_New_South_Wales_Australia
Koala Photo Credit
https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/people/bevmill
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