Recovery Strategy

Revised Recovery Strategy 2021 can be found through this link

How can you help koalas to live near you?

Before buying a house, look for:

• Developments that have not cut down any native trees. Developments on old, cleared farmland, and old housing or industrial sites are suitable.
• Developments that have preserved or added to wildlife corridors. Development-scale wildlife corridors should be wider than 100metres, continuous, preferably beside streams or waterways and not alongside roads. Note: A single line of trees is not a wildlife corridor.

Questions to ask your local council:

• Do they have wildlife crossings over or under roads? If not, why?
• Do they have a plan for protecting native wildlife in the region?
• Do they have a plan for creating and/or preserving large regional-scale wildlife corridors between substantial areas of koala habitat?
• When is their next community tree planting day?

Climate change & deforestation

Koalas are one of the 10 species worldwide most at risk from climate change.  This is due to a ‘perfect storm’ of effects: increasing aridity, increasing frequency of wildfire, increasing length & severity of droughts and heatwaves – all leading to stress and increasing disease.  Add to this the scientifically-recorded damaging effect of increased carbon dioxide on eucalyptus leaves (leads to higher toxins and lower nutritional compounds) and the koala is running out of time.  Only by increasing koala habitat – examples include the Great Koala National Park and Great Forest National Park proposals – will improve their chances.

Meanwhile, Australia is removing koala habitat at a catastrophic rate. Queensland is one of the world’s worst places for deforestation, up there with Brazil.  Deforestation also continues at an alarming pace in NSW and Victoria.  There is just no need for this.  Tourism (which requires koalas) is already a much more profitable industry than agriculture, contributing twice as much revenue as agriculture and twice as many jobs.

Humans are the biggest problem for koalas, but also the solution. Koalas and humans want to live in the same places in Australia, and though most people love koalas, with people come cars and dogs – both deadly to koalas. Over 4000 koalas are killed by dogs each year and many more are killed by cars.

The revised Eurobodalla Koala Recovery Strategy 2021 updates an edition published in 2013 and contains advice such as what koala-friendly trees to plant and the importance of vegetation connectivity, fire and dog management.

Community members or agencies interested in co-editing the revision of the Eurobodalla Koala Recovery Strategy are invited to make contact through the Contacts page.