Since the 2019/20 bushfires, it has become increasingly important to better understand the distribution and abundance of remaining koala populations. The Campbelltown koalas escaped the conflagration by little more than the width of a road and some timely backburning.
Liverpool City Council is considering the establishment of a koala-specific or wildlife-general hospital and possible associated sanctuary to serve a conservation function for the Liverpool Local Government Area and across south-west Sydney more broadly, in line with recommendations stemming from the Koala Population and Habitat in NSW Parlimentary Inquiry (2019).
In response to community concerns, we were contracted by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environmment (DAWE) to undertake an independent assessment of the Brandy Hill quarry site between Seaham and Woodville to the west of Raymond Terrace. Of concern was a proposal to clear ~ 50 ha of Eucalypt woodland and the potential impact that this action may have on any resident koalas living in the area to be cleared.
We were awarded a contract to examine the status of threatened Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby (BTRW) populations in parts of the Ipswich LGA, our work involving a review of historical BTRW records to examine possible changes in the two key range parameters Extent of Occurrence and Area of Occupancy, working with Council officers to develop a field-based monitoring protocol, implementing a trial monitoring program and designing a BTRW database.
We have been contracted by Ipswich City Council to undertake an assessment of habitat use by koalas across Council's Parks and Reserves, including the Mount Grandchester, Flinders - Goolman and White Rock - Spring Mountain Conservation Estates. The project involves a review of historical koala records to examine changes in koala distribution over time, as well as the application of SAT-based methodologies to quantify aspects of koala occupancy and metapopulation configuration in key areas.
Funded by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (Australia), we have recently completed an assessment of the impact on koalas of the 2019 / 20 fire season. We are able to do this because earlier project work provided us with a large array of contemporaneous (i.e. current koala generation) pre-fire survey data.
In 2012, the NSW Minister for Planning & Infrastructure initiated a review of the application of Environmental Zones (E Zones) and overlays in Local Environmental Plans on the Far North Coast of NSW. Amongst the implications arising from this review was the deferral of proposed land use zonings in some areas.
We often work with other consultancy companies and/or organisations to assist them with the undertaking of various projects. Current collaborations include:
- working collaboratively with ARCADIS and Transport NSW to understand and mitigate potential impacts on koalas arising from construction of a proposed highway interchange and stormwater drainage channel located near Six-mile Creek Road in the Port Stephens LGA.
We have recently completed several local and landscape-scale, connectivity studies intended to better understand and predict the movement needs of koalas across fragmented landscapes.
Morihei Ueshiba (1883 - 1969)
