The nation's next big thing, a Big Koala, is set to be installed in a new tourist attraction unveiled near Port Macquarie on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
The Cowarra State Forest Tourism Precinct will also host a breeding program for wild koalas, run by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.
Margaret Meagher, who is behind the Hello Koala Sculpture Trail in Port Macquarie, has been wanting a Big Koala since she started the trail in 2014.
"It will certainly put us on the tourist map in terms of people that go and see all the big things," she said.
"The one thing I wanted was to have a Big Koala in a natural environment.
"Standing under this canopy of trees where the Big Koala's going to be, I feel like I've won the lottery."
The 2.5-metre koala will be painted by locals and should be in place by the middle of next year.
"We wanted to keep it reasonably small so that when people are looking at it, taking photographs of it, they don't have to go too far away from it. We didn't want a big grotesque statue," Ms Meagher said.
"Forestry deserves 16 million medals for this. It will not only be a visitor experience, it will be a learning experience about Aboriginal culture, forestry practice, and koala conservation. It's got all the ingredients."
'All up in the trees'
Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams said it would be a very different tourism experience.
"It's not about the beaches, it's not about the coast, this is very much about our forests," she said.
The architect of the "dream job", Ken McBryde, said he started the process of listening to all the various stakeholders at the beginning of the year.
"We're here to help save the threatened species, that's what this project is about," Mr McBryde said.
Wildnets — like trampolines — will be strung among the trees, he said.
"After that you can wind through the treetops, even in a wheelchair or with a stroller, through a narrow ribbon, and that allows people to hover around and look at the koalas close up."
Cultural burning maintenance
The Bunyah Local Aboriginal Land Council are partners in the project which will include a cafe run by them, an art gallery, and an amphitheatre for cultural awareness training for schools.
The council will also manage the land through cultural burning.
"It means a lot to us. The beauty of this is that State Forests [Forestry Corporation] approached us, we didn't approach them, which makes it more important, or just as important," CEO Amos Donovon said.
"It's also going to create a lot of employment for our people.
"We've also got seven or eight of our members [from] Port Macquarie and Wauchope fire trained which we've turned into a cultural burning team with which we burnt this very site."
