WIRES NSW Koala Coordinator Vickii Lett said, in recent years, the organisation has put more koalas into care in the Central West 'than ever before' and pointed to habitat destruction as one of the major contributing factors.

That habitat destruction exponentially increases the chances of koalas succumbing to disease, attacks, road accidents or even heat, and she said it's now left the species 'hanging on by their fingertips' across the region and the entire state.

"In recent years we've been putting more into care than ever before," she said.

"In the Central West koalas are susceptible to disease, dog attacks, cars and even cow attack - yes, cows attack them - and so much of that can be narrowed down to habitat destruction forcing them out of the areas that are best for them.

"We're seeing more koalas pop up around the Central West and we can't just give up them, we need to look after the animals that are there and keep trying to help them.

"The koalas that are left in that region are the survivors, they adapted and made it through the recent droughts so we need to help those animals."

Ms Lett's plea comes amid concern recent policy changes could leave koala populations around the state equally as scarce as they are in the Central West, with claims new regulations could have a catastrophic impact on the already-vulnerable species.

The government has come to an agreement to remove rural land zoned for farming or forestry from the new Koala State Environmental Planning Policy and come under a code that is yet to be developed, but is expected next month.

That will include 95 per cent of the land where development occurs in NSW and, in short, means those rural areas will not be subject to the land clearing rules that are designed to protect koala habitat, despite making up a huge proportion of that habitat.

Koalas prefer to live on fertile land and research from WWF Australia shows almost 70 per cent of recorded populations are on private land, which will be regulated under the new code to be developed by Local Land Services.

Although that may not directly impact the Central West, Ms Lett said any potential threat to koala habitat is a huge cause for concern and 'quite distressing'.

"A lot of the most desirable areas for humans to develop are the exact areas koalas live in and they're hanging on by their fingernails not just in the Central West, but everywhere," she said.

"It's true, if we continue to destroy their habitats then koala populations in other areas of the state could become as scarce as the Central West, this really could be a tipping point."

The agreement is a compromise between the Liberal and National parties which deputy premier John Barilaro said 'balances the interest of farmers and the protection of koalas'.

Nature Conservation Council chief executive Chris Gambian refuted that and said the announcement flies in the face of the government's aim to double koala populations by 2050, and removing protection all but signs a death warrant for the species.

Koala populations in the Central West have predominantly been recorded at high elevation in areas around Bathurst, Mudgee, Lithgow and Cowra, however they have been sighted and reported in Blayney, Neville and around Millthorpe too.

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