Nambucca Valley Koala Conservation Project
Enhancing koala habitat in the Nambucca Valley by addressing the key threats of landscape degradation
- LEP23-033
The issue
Threats to the local koala populations include loss of habitat through clearing (historic and current), lack of linkages between key habitat sites and weed infestations which restricts movement through the bush.
The solution
Over the past two years, Nambucca Valley Landcare has been undertaking works on improving koala habitat across the Nambucca Valley through a project funded by the Australian Government. This project included planting koala habitat trees to provide habitat linkages across open paddocks and in-fill plantings, and improved habitat quality through areas of intensive weed control, as well as some educational opportunities.
The impact
This project planted 5,361 koala habitat plants across 4 properties to help form koala habitat corridors and to fill in gaps within the landscape. Two properties hosted five planting days, one of these supported ShoreTrack students to undertake an end of year assessment. An amazing 134 hours of volunteer time was given to planting and maintaining these trees.
In total, over 800 hours of weed control were undertaken over 8 properties, with lantana being the main focus of the work. These properties are located in areas of key koala habitat, from Valla Rural all the way to Burrapine and Bakers Creek with over 100 acres of weeds being treated over the duration of this project and 16 acres of high-quality habitat fenced off from cattle access. Over the past 3 years, Nambucca Valley Landcare has improved the quality of koala habitat and areas of high biodiversity, through targeted weed control on approximately 150 hectares across 29 properties situated throughout the Nambucca Valley.
A workshop on koala conservation was hosted by Bollanolla Farm and Nambucca Valley Landcare and the North Coast Regional Landcare Network visited two local primary schools and hosted a koala information stall at the 2023 NAIDOC week celebrations at Bowraville.
Key facts
- 5,361 tubestock planted
- 800 hours of weed control
- 134 volunteer hours