New homes created for bushfire devastated koalas

“The Black Summer was the worst environmental disaster witnessed in history... we are now a step ahead in our mission to protect NSW’s declining koala population.”

Friends of the Koala Nursery Opening with Friends of the Koala's Mark Wilson and FNPW’s Patrick Medley.

A new Lismore nursery could bring about 2400 trees in the name of helping koalas recover from bushfires.

Friends of the Koala, the peak koala conservation group in the Northern Rivers, launched their new Bushfire Recovery Nursery this week.

The expansion was made possible by Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife (FNPW) and hopes to allow the nursery to propagate and distribute 240,000 koala food tree seedlings over the next three years.

Planting the native species such as Forest Red Gum, Tallowwood and Swamp Mahogany would be a major step towards supporting the recovery of critically impacted koala populations and their habitat following the 2019-2020 bushfire season.

Friends of the Koala Nursery Opening with FNPW's Patrick Medley and Friends of the Koala Mark Wilson and Southern Cross University's Ben Roche.

Friends of the Koala Nursery Manager Mark Wilson said the opening would also provide more habitat corridors of food and shelter for koalas in the Northern Rivers.

“The support of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife has meant that we are now a step ahead in our mission to protect NSW’s declining koala population,” he said.

“The Black Summer was the worst environmental disaster witnessed in history, killing or displacing three billion animals, so it’s our first priority to start rebuilding habitats to protect our beloved native wildlife.”

Friends of the Koala Nursery Opening.

The new nursery’s land was generously donated by Southern Cross University

The new site also has additional volunteer facilities to enable potting up and tree maintenance activities.