Councillor calls for koala habitat areas to be connected

Yesterday was Wild Koala Day but with numbers decreasing and increasing pressures on habitat their survival is up to us.

Today is Wild Koala Day.

Unless there is more “true grassroots importance placed on preserving koala habitat” community is at risk of seeing the extinction of the koala, a Redland City Councillor said.

Cr Wendy Boglary (Ormiston/Wellington Point) raised concerns yesterday on Wild Koala Day about the future of the threatened species.

“At present there is limited environmental protection within the City which is a concern to myself,” Cr Boglary said.

“Koalas need habitat areas to be connected.”

“The Wildlife Connections Plan which has strategic and scientifically based corridors mapped throughout Redlands City needs to be incorporated into the new City Plan to at least have increased protection on these recognised priority environmental areas.”

Cr Wendy Boglary is passionate about ensuring koala habitat is protected.

Cr Boglary said she believed without “true grassroots” efforts placed on preserving koala habitat there “should be alarm”.

“The main concern is the disappearance of their habitat which causes stress, increase road kill and dog attacks.”

She said the situation for koalas was “frightening”.

The Redland Koala Conservation Strategy 2016 highlights data showing the koala density in the koala coast had suffered an estimated 80 percent decline between 1996 and 2014.

SUBSCRIBE TO REDLANDS COMMUNITY NEWS & THE COURIER MAIL: JUST $1 A WEEK FOR FIRST 12 WEEKS

Cr Boglary was just one of many on the Redlands Coast today to celebrate Wild Koala Day.

Many gathered at G.J Walker Park to wander among the resident koalas.

Cr Boglary said action at all levels of government was needed to “put funds into buying recognised koala habitat areas and protecting known wildlife corridors and strengthen them with plantings in any clear sections and along the boundaries to increase their width giving gather areas for the koalas as they roam and feed.

She said it was essential koalas had “sufficient stepping stone areas for food and shelter along their paths between the corridors so they can travel safely”.

“We need to raise community awareness about dog attacks, road kills , safe access to yards and school grounds where koala trees are and even having rope in pools so koalas can get out.”

Cr Boglary said future and ongoing incorpation of habitat areas into new subdivisions would in the “long run actually add value to the homes and the area”.

REDLANDS COMMUNITY NEWS

REDLANDS CITY COUNCIL HABITAT INITIATIVE

COUNCIL PURCHASES STRATEGIC BIRKDALE LAND

Residents are supporting koala habitat protection by planting trees across the Redlands Coast

She said Redlands Coast residents were already contributing an Environmental levy which was allocated to conservation operational works and buying priority land.

“But Governments should look at how much this little creature brings into the national, state and local economies. I always remember the interview with Oprah when in Australia she said ‘I have held a koala I can go home now’” Cr Boglary said.

“Any funding put into saving and protecting the koala and their habitat is given back from the koala in the tourism dollars they generate. Going forward eco-tourism is on the increase globally and Australia has the greatest opportunity with our wildlife and having urban koalas is something people would never believe overseas.”