The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) has welcomed new independent research showing early signs of Koala population stabilisation on Redlands Coast but there is still a long way to go, particularly as habitats in Redlands continue to fall.
Independent studies from both the University of the Sunshine Coast and Griffith University found no evidence of continued decline in the Redlands Coast Koala population since 2018, following more than 20 years of significant decline.
Deborah Tabart OAM, Chair of the Australian Koala Foundation, will attend a formal presentation of these findings, which will provide more detail and in preparation for that meeting has created maps that visually demonstrate landscape changes across Redlands Coast since European settlement.
“It is heartening to see that Redland City Council’s attempts but the public need to really know this is not “problem solved”. Ms Tabart said.
“I am wondering too whether Council has “cherry picked” parts of Redlands to focus Koala protection rather than recognising whole of landscape. We are constantly receiving concerns about Koalas on Stradbroke Island and in Ormiston, both significant areas for Koalas. It was gratifying to see that we seem to agree on Koala numbers of about 500, but given some 50,000 Koalas have disappeared from Redlands, Logan, Brisbane and Pine Rivers over the last 30 years, it is still a tragic situation.
These results may indicate that while numbers remain low, estimated between 350 and 500 Koalas on the mainland, stabilisation marks a turning point after decades of decline but I do hope that both the Federal Government’s Environment Minister Murray Watt, where the Koala is listed as Endangered and the development industry do not see this as open slather for other areas of Redlands that are still under constant threat of development.
I would like to see more oversight from Mr. Watt, said Tabart
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About us:
About the Australian Koala Foundation
The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is the principal non-profit, non-government organisation dedicated to the effective management and conservation of the Koala and its habitat. Our proudest achievement is the recent finalisation of mapping the entire geographic range of the Koala, via our Koala Habitat Atlas mapping methodology. The AKF is also dedicated to a Koala Protection Act.
Contact details:
Office: (07) 3229 7233
Mobile: 0407 750 668
