THE koala population in the New England North West region will likely face extinction unless radical measures are taken to stop land clearing for mining and farming, a new environmental report has found.
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The report, written by David Paull, a former ecologist with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, focused on seven regions of north-western NSW including Tamworth, Inverell, Glen Innes, Armidale and Walcha and has ignited concerns about the rapid decline of the species in recent years.
While Mr Paull said tree planting in areas such as Armidale had assisted in sustaining koala numbers, more on-ground restoration work was needed in land that had been previously cleared.
“Critically, only 18 per cent of the koala locations in the study area are in the current reserve system, while 64 per cent are on private land,” Mr Paull said.
“We believe no report or data base within government, either state or federal, gives such a comprehensive picture of the likely fate of koalas in western NSW which are now facing extinction from continuing land clearing for mining and farming, and intensive logging of native forests.”
Mr Paull’s report was dedicated to the memory of Environment and Heritage employee Glen Turner, who was shot while investigating land-clearing near Moree in July 2014.
Regional ecologist Phil Spark agreed with Mr Paull’s findings that in some areas of the region, including the Moree area, the koala population had rapidly declined due to land clearing in rural areas, but also pointed out in some other areas climate change was also a threat.
“It certainly is a real possibility that koala numbers could continue to decline,” Mr Spark said.
“While in my surveys I’m still finding some good, healthy koalas, they are nowhere near as abundant as they used to be.
“I think climate is the new threat making a lot of them sick. They are getting chlamydia due to all the stresses they’re experiencing.
“While there is adequate habitat to support larger populations (in some areas), climate change is preventing them from getting back to those sort of numbers.
“There are a lot of old trees around Gunnedah, and over time they’re going to continue to die out in those locations where there is no regeneration happening in the more open paddocks.”
Mr Spark said while he believed the koala population was expanding in the Armidale area due to ongoing efforts, he was concerned about the fate of koalas in the Gunnedah and Pilliga areas.
“It’s very worrying, there’s no doubt about it, but we have to be optimistic,” Mr Spark said.
