The Queensland government will expand protected areas for the state's endangered species and "get serious" about managing the land with more rangers, Premier David Crisafulli has announced. About 8,700 hectares will be added to national park conservation areas, with about a quarter set aside for new nature refuges on private land under deals with landholders. While Mr Crisafulli conceded the numbers announced on Sunday were small — Queensland covers 172 million hectares — he said it was a start. "If we can increase that threshold of protected areas, it sends a strong message about how much we value the environment," he said. The Queensland government has set an "ambitious" target to protect more areas at a greater rate in one term than the previous government did in the past 10 years. Mr Crisafulli said the plan would include hiring 150 more wildlife rangers and committing more funding to groups that manage their resources. The announcement comes just days after environmentalists blasted the government's decision to open tenders for nine new areas of gas exploration. Queensland Conservation Council director Dave Copeman called that decision "devastating and deceitful" and said it covered a much larger area than the total amount of protected land. About 8.59 per cent of the state — a total of 14.55 million hectares — is protected, a long way short of the government's target. "The Queensland government's protected areas strategy says we need to get to 17 per cent," Mr Copeman said. "We can't get there if we keep granting exploration permits for mining leases and gas over all of Queensland." Asked how the government's new gas exploration sat with its land protection strategy, Mr Crisafulli said it was "about balance". "Gas is going to become a really important part of our energy mix as part of the transition to a more renewable future," he said. He added that gas exploration would only be allowed in areas where there is "minimal environmental impact." Koala conservation strategy Mr Crisafulli and Environment Minister Andrew Powell made their announcement at the Daisy Hill Koala Centre, south of Brisbane. Koalas are endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT, where threats to them include habitat loss, disease, car strikes and dog attacks. "We've got some major populations of koalas that are in real threat if we don't do something," Mr Crisafulli said. The 18 new nature refuges include several that seek to protect koala habitat, partly by forming corridors to larger national parks. They include 184.3 hectares of land at Quad's Nature Refuge in Mackay and the new 21.4 hectare Rowlands Nature Refuge, west of Gympie. The largest of the protected parcels designated for koala habitat is the 1,372.49 hectare Parrattamow Creek Nature Refuge north-west of Augathella, north of Charleville. Koala conservation groups say valuable koala habitat is being destroyed by developers, who they claim are knocking down mature trees to build new infrastructure. Rebecca Larkin, from the Ipswich Koala Protection Society, said humans and koalas needed to co-exist and good planning could allow both to thrive. "All the scientists agree that if we keep going the way we're going, there aren't going to be any left in south-east Queensland," Ms Larkin said. The government will announce its 20-year tourism vision on Monday, with one eye on the Olympics in 2032 and the huge influx of visitors expected to visit the state. Promoting the state's natural beauty is expected to form part of the tourism strategy.