Planting 'koala corridors' to save Australia's endangered marsupial
Lucy, a rehabilitated koala that once suffered from the widespread bacterial disease chlamydia, munches on eucalyptus leaves in a tree corridor planted by Bangalow Koalas, a conservation group in the Northern Rivers region of Australia’s New South Wales state.
The vast networks of vegetation are a lifeline for koalas and numerous other species like the endangered glossy black cockatoo, gliders, possums, and wallabies. These green corridors provide safe passageways across the koala's increasingly fragmented habitat, increasing genetic diversity and protecting the animals from human threats, President of Bangalow Koalas Linda Sparrow said.
The koala is predicted to be extinct in the wild in New South Wales by 2050, with some of the biggest threats being wildfires, habitat loss though logging and land clearing for development. It has already been declared as endangered in several states.
A five-yearly environmental report card released by the Australian government in 2022 showed the country has lost more mammal species than any other continent and has one of the worst rates of species decline among the world's richest countries.
Founded in 2019, Bangalow Koalas has planted over 336,000 trees on 119 properties, contributing to koala conservation and boosting the local ecosystem. The group aims to plant 500,000 trees by 2025.
Calling it a "domino effect", Sparrow said oftentimes whilst the charity was planting on a property, other neighbouring properties would want to partake in the conservation efforts, thereby expanding the scale of landscape revitalised for the koalas.
Volunteer Lindy Stacker, who has been planting trees for over five years, said the activity was "better than meditation, better than yoga", and had rallied the community together.
A recent report by the Australian Koala Foundation said the iconic marsupial was worth an estimated $3.2 billion per annum to the tourism industry.
However, the World Wildlife Fund - Australia reported alarming declines in koala populations, with a 50% drop in Queensland and a 62% drop in New South Wales since 2001.
Sparrow remains committed to the cause.
Saying she could not imagine a world where without koalas in the wild, Sparrow said the group would do its utmost to ensure that that does not become a reality.
