PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A NOOSA KOALA RESEARCH AND EDUCATION SANCTUARY

A report which studied koala habitat in the Noosa region between 1860 and 1999 (Seabrook, McAlpine, Phinn, Callaghan and Mitchell) concluded that fifty percent of koala habitat was lost in the area during this period. The loss could be attributed to vegetation clearing associated with dairy farming in the early 20th century and, more recently, the planting of exotic pine plantations, urbanisation and rural subdivision.

Koala numbers decreased dramatically in the region, and nationally, in the 1920s as a result of the booming international fur trade, bringing the species to the brink of extinction.

In the 1960s the Noosa Heads koala population was boosted when Dr Arthur Harrold translocated several animals from the Beerwah area when it was cleared to make way for radiata pine plantations.

By the 1990s the human population and infrastructure in Noosa were causing significant koala mortality, due to displacement caused by land clearing and the secondary effects of road trauma and dog attacks. Noosa resident Isobel Pert has played a significant role in documenting the decline. Her photos are featured in the photo galleries, and here.

354 sick or injured koalas were rescued from within the Noosa region between 2000 and July 2009.  52% died in care.  

60 percent of koalas rescued from the Noosa area and referred to the Australian Wildlife Hospital between March 2004 and July 2009 presented with clinical signs of disease (43 percent with Chlamydia, which causes blindness, infertility, urinary tract infection and kidney failure, and sometimes pneumonia and flu-like syndromes). Because there has been no attempt at intervention, the spread of disease has continued unabated.

There is significant opposition amongst sections of the greater Noosa community to the proposed powerlines and sub-station project earmarked to be constructed between Woolooga and Cooroy South.  This resulted in the formation of the lobby group PAGE (Powerlines Action Group Eumundi) in early 2008.  PAGE's opposition to the project is centred on renewable energy alternatives and the threat of clearing of environmentally sensitive land, which is known to be koala habitat and home to endangered species such as the Northern Quoll and the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly.  Eerwah Vale residents are especially concerned in respect to the protection of koala habitat, as a section of the Cooroy West State Forest (koala habitat) was logged in late 2008. This also resulted in significant community protest.

In 2008 the Australian Koala Foundation estimated that there were no more than 15 koalas remaining in the Noosa Heads postcode area. Only five years previously at least 30 koalas were known to inhabit the Noosa National Park precinct alone, delighting locals and visitors alike on a daily basis.

A Noosa Koala Summit was held in December 2008 as a result of the dramatic population decline being highlighted in the local press. The Summit was chaired by a representative of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, and despite representations from a number of koala experts who had a host of anecdotal evidence and several koala management options being tabled, a subsequent report to Council stated that “no action is required at this time” - justifying the decision on the basis that no “independently verifiable scientifically based information” had been presented to convince him that Noosa’s koala population is, in fact, in decline.

Despite numerous state planning policies and koala conservation plans spanning the past 14 years, both large scale and incremental loss and fragmentation of koala habitat continue to occur. South-east Queensland has arguably incurred the greatest loss compared to any other region in Australia, resulting in approximately 25,000 koala deaths being reported in the past decade.

In late 2008 the State Government convened a Koala Crisis Taskforce to address the dramatic koala decline across the state.  The Taskforce was charged with making recommendations to Parliament in order to arrest the decline and protect the species for future generations.

In the aftermath of the State government election in March 2009, the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) released a survey report, which showed that Redlands koala population had fallen 64 percent in the past decade, and halved from 4611 animals in 2006 to just 2279 in 2008. The report concluded that at the present rate of decline there would be fewer than 500 surviving koalas in Redlands in 2010.

Disease in koalas, causing significant morbidity and mortality, has been identified as a critical threatening process contributing to dramatic population decline. Although habitat loss and fragmentation are processes most implicated in koala population declines, disease is often a contributing factor to localised extinction. The Koala Taskforce identified disease as a key issue requiring significant funding.

In July 2009 the Australian Koala Foundation estimated the remaining south-east Queensland koala population numbers just 4,000.

The Queensland Government has commissioned scientific research in the Pine Rivers and Redlands areas only.  With the benefit of this trend data, which showed significant declines in koala numbers, they have deemed these areas to be "Priority Koala Management Areas".  Sadly, the many other declining populations in the state, including the Noosa population and others in the south-east corner, are not afforded any special protection measures nor any level of management or monitoring unless it is privately funded.

Statistics released by the Australian Wildlife Hospital in mid 2010 show an alarming new trend.  In the past, the three most common reasons koalas arrived into care (in order) were being hit by a car, dog attack and disease, and this year the order of this trend changed to disease, hit by car and dog attack.  Hospital Manager, Gail Gipp, stated “The future for koalas, particularly those in Queensland and New South Wales, is looking very grim unless some drastic action is undertaken now.  Whilst most of us know and understand the impacts that affect koalas in urban areas, and most of us associate land clearing as being the major threat in the western areas, we also assume koalas that live in areas where humans have little or no impact are the safest. The reality is that disease across all areas is the main threat and the most significant to koalas as a whole, regardless of area.”

 
In October 2010 Queensland's Auditor General revealed to Parliament that only 98 of Queensland's 576 national parks and protected areas had a management strategy.  The State Government's management plan for Noosa National Park is now one year overdue for review (the last plan was prepared in September 1999).  In accordance with the Nature Conservation Act 1992, the management plan should be reviewed by the Department of Environment and Resource Management not later than ten years after its approval.  At the same time, Koala Diaries has established that the koala population now inhabiting the (most visited) headland section of the Noosa National Park has reduced to just 4 individuals. 

These are the issues confronting Queensland's koalas that we seek to address with the Noosa Koala Research and Education Sanctuary. Your support is urgently needed.

Objectives

1. To establish a privately operated Noosa Koala Sanctuary, Education and Research centre in the Noosa region*#
2. To provide a safe habitat (release) site for those koalas that are rescued (as a result of illness, injury, displacement or orphaning) from areas in the Noosa region that are deemed “unsafe” (ie. land clearing sites) or have exceeded their carrying capacity, as determined by koala experts#
3. To provide a safe habitat (release) site for hand-raised (orphaned) koalas for the purpose of (i) injecting some genetic diversity in to the small, surviving local population; (ii) involving these koalas in the facility’s koala disease research project/s#
4. The facility to be actively involved in leading koala disease research project/s#
5. The facility to support the development and implementation of local laws, local community education and awareness campaigns, aimed at koala conservation and protection
6. The facility to become recognised as a leading tourism attraction in the Noosa region

* For the purpose of this proposal, “the Noosa region” refers to the former Noosa Shire (encompassing Noosa Heads, Peregian Beach, Tewantin, Tinbeerwah, Boreen Point, Cooroy, Pomona and Kin Kin), with the addition of Eumundi, Verrierdale and Doonan.
# Subject to the acquisition of appropriate permits from the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM).

Interested in becoming a corporate partner? We can do great things together that will get your staff engaged and give you an environmental platform to showcase your organisation's shared concerns.

Download the Summary of the full proposal document or complete the contact form for more information. 

Research Priority 1, as identified in the proposal, has been endorsed as an official project of Wildcare Australia.