Dr Bill Ellis 

Postdoctoral Researcher, The University of Queensland; Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo
Climate change and the koala: results and predictions from long-term studies
Co-author: Prof. Frank Carrick, The University of Queensland

Koalas occur across a broad latitudinal range in Australia, but the persistence of most populations is threatened. In addition to anthropogenic impacts, the physiological pressure of climatic variation upon koalas and their environment could vastly reduce the range of koalas in Australia. For several years, we have been investigating the physiology and ecology of koalas in sub humid and semi arid central Queensland landscapes, to understand the impacts and responses that characterise life outside the koala’s comfort zone. We have observed general–scale impacts during long periods of drought, such as altered tree associations and reduced recruitment to koala populations, and behavioural and physiological responses that may be critical to the survival of koalas under conditions of climate change. The koala’s persistence in some areas may be determined by the capacity to modify feeding strategies, while in other areas the persistence of both the food and non-food trees they use could determine their survival. Today we present some of our findings and present considerations for planning in the face of various climate change models.

Mark Graham

Ecologist, Buckombil Conservation Services
Are our laws and policies knocking North Coast koalas out of their trees?

The North Coast of New South Wales supports some of the highest density Koala populations known. Populations of the Koala across the North Coast are under threat from urban sprawl, native vegetation clearance and a host of other pressures. In many coastal areas in which Koalas were previously abundant, extinction is imminent.

Policy and legal responses to the conservation of Koalas on the NSW North Coast vary widely. Numerous State agencies such as the Department of Environment and Climate Change, Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority and Department of Planning have a legal and policy role to play in Koala conservation. This complex policy and legal landscape is further complicated by the role that Local Government plays in determining development patterns and approving developments.

Numerous loopholes, flaws and cop-outs exist in the current system of regulating and protecting the Koala and its habitat on the North Coast. These collectively allow indiscriminate destruction of native vegetation including the clearance of substantial areas of valuable Koala habitat. Some of this destruction is for the benefit of a greedy few, some of it through sheer ignorance, but all of it is avoidable if political will and statutory systems arise that actually protect habitat.

Jamie Morton 

Catchment Co-ordinator, Biodiversity and Native Vegetation
Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority
Northern Rivers CMA: multi species recovery

The Northern Rivers Region Catchment Action Plan sets priorities for natural resource management in the Northern Rivers. Funds are provided by State and Federal government for achieving natural resource management outcomes. Activities are informed by regional plans and strategies for the recovery of threatened species.  
Northern Rivers CMA recognises the importance of the Koala as a threatened species and its importance to Australia’s national identity. There are about 380 threatened species in the Northern Rivers. Balancing competing priorities with limited funds is challenging and Northern Rivers CMA seeks achievement of multiple outcomes on behalf of the community.  
The Native Vegetation Act (2003) which sets clearing controls for rural and rural residential landholders is administered by the CMA. Northern Rivers CMA assists landholders to understand and comply with the Act and works with local government on interactions between the Act, other consents and Comprehensive Koala Plans of Management.

Sue Higginson 

Solicitor, Environmental Defender’s Office (NSW) Northern Rivers
SEPP 44 - it’s law, but is it really protecting the koalas?
 
Having a Koala specific State Environmental Planning Policy is necessary and important. SEPP 44 Koala Habitat Protection was introduced in 1995; that is nearly 15 years ago. Anthropocentric and development pressures on the environment are ever changing and increasing, and our knowledge of impacts on the environment and biodiversity itself is growing daily. Our laws designed to protect biodiversity and threatened species must keep up with the changing pressures and growing knowledge. The experience of SEPP 44, through its application and implementation, needs to be monitored and assessed in order to be able to be considered and measured as an effective species protection tool. The long awaited and welcomed recent approval and release of the NSW Recovery Plan for the Koala makes specific references to the need for reform of SEPP 44, which arguably do not go far enough.

Dr Jon Hanger 

Director of Research and Ecological Services and Jo Loader  Research Assistant,  Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors Worldwide
Infectious disease in koalas: implications for conservation

Infectious disease in koalas is undoubtedly one of the critical threatening processes contributing to their dramatic population declines in Queensland and New South Wales. Two of the most important infections: koala retrovirus (KoRV) and Chlamydia are still relatively poorly understood, although they are the subject of active research at a number of universities in Queensland and New South Wales.  We still have much to learn about their associated disease pathogenesis, the interaction between these agents, their ecological impact and distribution. This information is important not only to assist in our efforts to treat affected koalas, but also to add weight to our arguments for greater protection of habitat. Our concerns about the impact of infectious disease in koalas continue to be validated by both koala admissions to the Australian Wildlife Hospital, and also our investigations of koala health in a number of wild koala populations. We will present an overview of the prevalence of disease in some populations that we are studying in SEQ and the implications for koala conservation generally.