Saving our Species (SoS) continues its koala conservation programs with help from its partners.
SoS continues to break new ground in three major conservation partnerships. SoS is contributing $1.35 million over three years to projects in three regions that support some of the largest koala populations in the state. Dedicated project officers in each region are focused on building partnerships and saving koalas.
- In the north east hinterland, SoS is working with councils from Tweed, Byron, Ballina and Lismore shires, as well as Friends of the Koala, to protect koala habitat on private properties and improve the successful release rate of injured koalas.
- In the Port Macquarie region, SoS is working with the councils of the Mid North Coast Joint Organisation (Port Macquarie-Hastings, Kempsey and Bellingen) and the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital. This project will deliver a range of on-ground, scientific and community engagement projects that will help to stabilise and increase koala populations in the mid north coast. The project is also supporting a ground-breaking new school education program called Koala Smart. Visit the Koala Smart website for more details.
- In the Southern Highlands, SoS is working with Wingecarribee Shire Council to continue its successful Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project. A $450,000 investment from SoS will enable the council to deliver koala conservation actions and support a koala project officer, employed and co-funded by council. More than 100 landholders in the region have expressed interest in conserving koalas on their properties.
SoS is also working with local groups to deliver an additional $1 million for local actions under the NSW Koala Strategy. This funding supports a range of projects with community partners including:
- Aboriginal community and education field days – where the aboriginal children and community learn about koala conservation
- koala surveys in key regions (Blue Mountains and Bathurst) and to address priority knowledge gaps about these little studied populations
- a school education program that promotes koala education across six primary schools in the Hawkesbury region
- Narrandera Koala Count that engages the community and citizen scientists to annual count the koala population and identify population trends.
For all your koala conservation questions, you can visit the NSW Koala Country website. There you can find a local koala conservation group and meet some of the dedicated people working to conserve, protect and care for koalas in New South Wales.
