They are one of Australia's most-loved native animals and koalas are frequently associated with the popular New South Wales coastal town of Port Macquarie.

The area is home to a significant koala population and was thrown into the international spotlight during the last summer's devastating bushfires when images went around the world showing the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, which rescued and cared for many burnt and injured koalas.

Now there are plans to further celebrate that link with the creation of a "big koala" at Port Macquarie.

The big koala, however, won't be quite that big.

It's being created by the Hello Koalas public art project, which comes under the umbrella of Arts and Health Australia, directed by Margret Meagher.

"We really want the Port Macquarie big koala to be an icon for our region," Ms Meagher said.

"We have tagged ourselves Australia's capital for koalas and we see the big koala as signifying that status."

The Hello Koalas project has established a successful public outdoor sculpture trail, which features 70 individually designed, metre-high koala sculptures and a map to find them.

Some of the sculptures have been in travelling displays to Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens and national parks to highlight the need to protect koalas, which are under increasing pressure from habitat loss.

Ms Meagher said Port Macquarie's big koala would be more than twice the size of the Hello Koala trail sculptures.

"The big koala will be 2.5 metres, which, in the general scheme of big things, is actually not so big, but we didn't want a big grotesque sculpture, we really wanted something that was beautiful," she said.

"We know that 2.5 metres is a very conducive size for people to engage with, because if you have a very big sculpture, you don't have that same sense of personal engagement and wonder.

"It will be hand-painted by local artists with nature-based tourism concepts."

Ms Meagher said plans had been in place for a while to create something bigger and it was great to finally be moving forward.

"We have just pressed the green light on our big koala and they have now started the manufacture which is very exciting," she said.

Location a big secret

The location of Port Macquarie's long-awaited big koala has not been revealed.

"That's a big secret," Ms Meagher said with a laugh.

"We'd like to think we might have it in time for our annual Hello Koalas festival, which has been pushed back to late September this year."

Two big koalas!

Ms Meagher said there were also plans for a second big koala and a sculpture park.

"The first big koala will be here in Port Macquarie and we will have a second one at a new tourism precinct that Forestry NSW is building in the Cowarra State Forest," she said.

"We are also working on developing a sculpture park, not only to show off a group of our Hello Koalas, but also to show off other artwork created by our local artists that reflect the environment and heritage."

The Cowarra tourism precinct, where the second Big Koala is planned, will be the site of a world-first koala breeding program by the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital.

The hospital plans building a facility to accommodate koalas in a healthy habitat area, where it's hoped they will breed, allowing a new population of koalas to then be returned to the wild.

The Koala Hospital's Sue Ashton said they hoped the koala sculptures would further raise community awareness.

"Following the devastating fires over summer, koalas are under enormous threat," she said.

"The fires really had a huge impact on their population.

"The Koala Hospital supports any initiative that is going to draw public awareness to the plight of our wild koala population."