Australia is one of the worst performing countries in terms of protecting its ecoregions. Koalas are a litmus test for conservation of a habitat in crisis
Koalas ‘under siege’ from policy changes set to destroy habitat, report finds | Environment | The Guardian
New South Wales government is failing to protect koalas by allowing further land clearing, logging and habitat destruction, National Parks Association says.
Iconic Status Won’t Be Enough to Save Koalas Unless Baird Changes Tack
What does it mean to be an icon in NSW? Not much apparently. Unless the Baird government has a complete rethink of its environment policy the iconic koala faces a bleak future says the National Parks Association of NSW.
Koalas are one of just six of the 1000-odd threatened species put on an ‘iconic’ pedestal in the NSW government’s Saving our Species (SOS) programme. According to the government, “iconic species are important socially, culturally and economically, and the community expects them to be effectively managed and protected”1.
New Great Koala National Park planned to save Koala from extinction in NSW
Highly regarded conservation zoo, Australian Reptile Park on the Central Coast of NSW, is joining forces with National Parks Association of NSW to raise awareness and funds for the establishment of The Great Koala National Park.
This conservation initiative is strategically planned to protect what is arguably Australia’s national icon, the koala, as numbers continue to plummet in NSW state forests and protected land. The Great Koala National Park is proposed to be established by combining 175,000 ha of state forest with 140,000 ha of existing protected land in the Coffs Harbour region to form a 315,000 ha refuge for almost 20 percent of the state’s remaining wild koalas.
Koalas for coal: Will it come to this in NSW?
Can we have our cake and eat it, or will offsetting cost our natural heritage? Koalas or coal; nature or one-off profits; short-term gain or things of wonder for our grandkids? These are the choices we have to make, writes Dr. Oisín Sweeney.