Call for more trees as urban growth puts Adelaide koalas at risk
KOALAS are dying in increasing numbers in Adelaide — but a local council is taking steps to stop their decline.
- Meet our aristocratic koalas
- Koala’s stroll through Coles
- Burnside Council’s interactive urban forest website
KOALAS are dying in increasing numbers due a rapidly shrinking tree canopy, prompting a local council to call for urgent action to arrest the decline.
Burnside Council has called for a report outlining how it can better support koalas – in particular in Hazelwood Park and Kensington Gardens Reserve – by planting more trees.
The moved has been backed by Fauna Rescue SA, which this week alone recorded 12 koala deaths across Adelaide.
Cr Jane Davey, who this week called for Burnside to take action on the issue, said the “vulnerable” animals needed to be protected.
“They’re much loved and of great importance to the people of Burnside,” Cr Davey told this week’s council meeting.
“Many backyards and parks across Burnside have their resident koalas.
“The damage to and loss of many of our remnant trees ... as our large residential blocks are subdivided and developed ... across Burnside, we’ve lost over 10 per cent of our tree canopy and therefore koala habitat.”
She said the council needed a “targeted, systematic” tree-planting plan to protect local fauna.
“The administration (needs to) turn their minds to what methods can be used to plant appropriate tree corridors ... which will support our koalas … so they have every opportunity to live a peaceful life in our city,” she said.
Fauna Rescue SA volunteer Merridy Montarello was glad to hear the council was taking control of the issue.
She said land subdivisions were robbing the region of its trees and, subsequently, wildlife.
“We are losing so many koalas,” Mrs Montarello said.
“We have had 12 hit by a car this week. With fewer trees, they’re on the move looking for food.
“Before you know it, they’ll be gone. In the blink of an eye.”
In a deputation to this week’s council meeting, Kensington Park resident Angela Ridge also warned the region’s “urban forest” was “at risk”.
“They (trees) are irreplaceable, but they are being replaced every year with buildings and pools and paving,” Mrs Ridge said.
“We must work harder to support trees which koalas use as a home.”
A 2016 Burnside Council-commissioned study found almost 10 per cent of the tree canopy across Glenside, Burnside and Magill had been lost between 2010 and 2015.
That decrease coincided with an increase in property density.
Last month, a blueprint was released that set out a structure for eight Adelaide councils, including Burnside, to meet a State Government target of a 20 per cent increase in tree coverage by 2045.
Burnside’s chief executive Paul Deb said the council had planted 1458 trees last year.
A report will be brought to council later this month about how it can better protect koalas through tree planting.