Near chlamydia-free, genetically diverse & unique Koala community found in Fernbrook area of northern New South Wales

 

Yahoo! News, 9 December 2024:

Australian wildlife researchers have made an incredibly rare discovery in the bush that they've branded "such an exciting result" for koala conservation.

Thanks to assistance from a "poo-sniffing English springer spaniel" named Max, a new community of koalas at Fernbrook, inland of Coffs Harbour, has been found that appear to be both chlamydia free and genetically different — an "increasingly rare" feat in NSW......

"More surveys need to be done, but it appears these koalas at Fernbrook are very special. They can still breed and produce future generations with higher climate resilience."

.....

Why is it so significant to find both chlamydia-free and genetically diverse koalas in NSW?

Surveys by Max and the team from Canines for Wildlife showed that the broader koala population in Coffs Harbour and Bellingen has low levels of chlamydia and high genetic diversity overall.

Genetic diversity enhances a population's ability to resist diseases and in koalas, a lack of it makes them more susceptible to infections.

Urban development, agriculture, and deforestation have broken up koala habitats into smaller, scattered patches, limiting their ability to travel and find unrelated mates. Koalas often remain in isolated areas, leading to a reduced genetic pool and increased inbreeding over generations. The Fernbrook results "have conservationists celebrating" and calling for a "halt to logging in state forests" that contain vital koala food and habitat trees. While the group of 10 koalas in Fernbrook are on private properties and are not threatened by logging — the wider population around Coffs Harbour is.

Canines for Wildlife were recruited to survey for koalas across 115 sites in the Coffs Harbour and Bellingen areas, ranging from coastal regions to the Dorrigo Plateau nearly 1,000 metres above sea level.

"We learned this population is healthy, has high genetic diversity and relatively low levels of chlamydia. So this is a really important population. If we’re going to save koalas we need to wrap healthy populations like this in cotton wool and protect them," Blanch said.

"It beggars belief that the tree homes of koalas continue to be knocked down and destroyed. Logging should stop right now in the area being assessed for the Great Koala National Park and in plantations where koalas live."

What's next?

A total of 109 poo samples were collected in 2022-2023 and sent for genetic testing at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Lynn Baker from Canines for Wildlife said this new colony must be protected.

"For a koala researcher this is such an exciting result," she said. "We knew the koalas at Fernbrook looked different. They are a lot furrier and darker in colour than their compatriots on the coast. They look like cold weather koalas.

"But if this is a genetically different and a chlamydia-free group then it’s important that they are protected. There are not many areas left in NSW that have distinct groups of [healthy] koalas.

"The burning question is are these koalas isolated to the habitat on these properties or are they connected to other chlamydia-free koalas that we haven’t sampled yet?"

Canines for Wildlife is hoping to do further surveys in the areas surrounding Fernbrook to help answer the question.

Since 2001, koala numbers in the state have decreased by 33 per cent to 61 per cent, driven by habitat destruction, climate change, disease, and urbanisation. The devastating 2019–2020 bushfires alone killed at least 6,400 koalas.

Read the full article at https://au.news.yahoo.com/incredibly-rare-discovery-in-aussie-bush-by-sniffer-dog-like-striking-gold-040624856.html

And Northern Rivers koalas continue to die on our roads.....

"Your paws in my hands...my reality as koala rescuer." 

A video by LinguIna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIzHTHuIJ7Q

Echo, 20 August 2024:

Many locals and kids from Byron Bay and Suffolk Park were devastated at the news that Moji, the koala they had all been watching and caring for over the past several months, was found dead on the road this morning.

‘The person who hit Moji didn’t stop to see if he was ok, two young girls kindly moved him off the road and called WIRES,’ said Mark from WIRES. [my yellow highlighting]

Moji the koala is another victim of careless driving. Photo supplied

Moji had taken up residence in trees at the golf club but the scattered feed trees meant he and other koalas have to cross the road to ensure they can get enough to eat.

‘Many locals and kids who used to stop on their bikes and watch him,’ Deb Pearce from the Byron Youth Service (BYS) told The Echo.

‘This morning we received a call about a deceased koala opposite Crystalbrook,’ explained Mark. ‘I quickly rushed over to discover it was Moji. He had been hanging around the golf course for the last couple of months, hadn’t seen him for a while and today he obviously tried to return.

‘I’m absolutely gutted, me and Melissa, a fellow wildlife rescuer, have put many hours trying to keep him and a couple other koalas safe in the area. Bangalow Koalas kindly kept their VMS signs up all this time to warn drivers to slow down. Thanks to the drivers who drove with care and those who weren’t hopefully you can see what it means to those who do care and drive with more caution.’ ......

PROPOSED GREAT KOALA NATIONAL PARK - STATE OF PLAY SEPTEMBER 2023: and now for a some good news

 

Map of the proposed Great Koala National Park (white outline). Red polygons show planned logging over the next 12 months. White polygons are 'koala hubs’ - the most important sites of koala habitat in NSW [Nature Conservation Council (NSW), 2023] Click on image to enlarge

Nature Conservation Council (NSW)

Media Release, 12 September 2023

Critical Koala Habitat protected from logging: NCC welcomes moratorium of logging

The Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC), the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, today welcomes the announcement by Ministers Sharpe and Moriarty that critical koala habitat in the future Great Koala National Park will be granted immediate protection from logging.

“This is a historic step forward by the Minns Government. “From today, 8400 hectares of the most important koala habitat in the world will be protected from logging,” said Nature Conservation Council acting CEO Dr Brad Smith.

The NSW Government today announced the process to establish the Great Koala National Park, as well as a halt to timber harvesting operations in the 106 koala hubs within the area being assessed for the park.

As the NSW government notes “The 106 koala hubs cover more than 8,400 hectares of state forest. Koala hubs are areas where there is strong evidence of multi-generational, high-density populations of the iconic animal. Koala hubs cover approximately 5% of the Great Koala National Park assessment area, but contain 42% of recorded koala sightings in state forests in the assessment area since 2000.

The move comes after analysis by the Nature Conservation Council released in June found that 17.7% of state forest that constitutes the Great Koala National Park proposal was to be targeted for logging over the next 12 months – a 300% increase on the previous two years.

Critically, the analysis found that logging was planned in areas the NSW government has identified as the most important areas of koala habitat in NSW (OEH Koala Hubs) including Wild Cattle Creek, Clouds Creek, Pine Creek and Boambee State Forests.

"This is a big win for the environment movement, koalas and the forests of the mid north coast” Dr Brad Smith, NCC Acting CEO said.

“What we’ve seen today is Ministers Sharpe and Moriarity recognise and respond to the community who want to protect their local forests, koalas and First Nations heritage from the devastating impact of logging.”

“This decision is a win for the people of NSW, who rallied, protested and demanded better - in some cases tying themselves to the giant trees that will now remain standing.” 

“This decision is also a recognition that logging has a devastating impact on koalas and biodiversity. We applaud them for ensuring that the most important areas of koala habitat in NSW be protected.”

“Protecting the most precious 5% of the Great Koala National Park area gives these koala populations a fighting chance.

“Of course we’re also concerned about the remaining 95% of the proposed park area, and we look forward to working through that assessment to ensure it’s also protected from logging as soon as possible.

“We also welcome the confirmation that 8400 hectares constitutes 5% of the park, meaning the Minns Government is delivering on their election promise by assessing all 175 000 hectares of forest that constitutes the Great Koala National Park proposal.”

Statement ends

In the space of three days state-owned Forestry NSW has apparently thumbed its nose at the Land & Environment Court and exposed itself to the international community as an environmental vandal

 

Echo, 1 September 2023:

Aunty Alison and Aunty Lauren on Gumbaynggirr Country at Newry State Forest. Photo supplied

Gumbaynggirr Elder Uncle Micklo and the oldest and most senior Gumbaynggirr Elder living on Gumbaynggirr Country Uncle Bud Marshall brought a successful application to the Land and Environment Court (L&EC) that halted logging at the Newry State Forest on 22 August. They were supported by Gumbaynggirr elders Aunty Alison and Aunty Lauren.

The Judge accepted an undertaking from Forestry to stop all logging in the forest to allow for a site inspection by Gumbaynggirr Elders of sacred and significant sites in the forest that the NSW Forestry had been logging. It had been arranged for the elders to go for the inspection on Friday, 1 September, however, at the last minute they were contacted by NSW Forestry to cancel the site inspection.

The Judge also accepted an undertaking that the stop on logging should extend to the substantial hearing set down for November 14, 16 and 17 in the L&EC.

‘Last night (31 August) Forestry said they were going to call off the site inspection, then they said they wanted to delay for another two weeks. They are due back in court on Tuesday (5 September) and the site inspection is supposed to have taken place,’ said Al Oshlack, from the Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network who helped organise the stop work order. [my yellow highlighting]

‘We had a driver organised and they were going to go out to a number of sites in Newry Forest today (Friday, 1 September). Everyone is really upset because they have been locked out for a long time by Forestry with fences and cameras etc in place.’

Mr Oshlack told The Echo that Forestry appears to use a person named Mr Potter to sign off on their cultural heritage requirements. However, Mr Oshlack said they have been unable to find any Gumbaynggirr people who either know Mr Potter or who have been consulted about sacred and cultural sites in the area by Forestry NSW.

‘We have been asking around to find out if anyone knows who Mr Potter is but we haven’t been able to find anyone who knows this person so far,’ Mr Oshlack said.

‘I spoke to Gumbaynggirr people who have been looking for him and they said “We went to five different Gumbaynggirr families and no one has heard of him.”….

The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 September 2023:

Professor Helge Bruelheide, professor of botany at the University of Helle in Germany, was stunned by what he has seen exploring the forests in and around the promised Great Koala National Park on the state’s North Coast this week.

“It is spectacular. All the variants of this Gondwana rainforest – cool and warm, temperate rainforest and also the subtropical rainforest – is something that is so unique globally that you wouldn’t find it in this particular combination elsewhere,” said Breulheide, one of the leading scientists in his field, who visited with 30 of his colleagues from around the world as they prepared for a conference on forest preservation to be held in Coffs Harbour next week.

Professor Helge Bruelheide at Border Ranges National Park, north of the proposed Great Koala National Park.

“It’s incredible walking through the forest and seeing a different tree every 5 meters. It is unique in the world. And it is also ancient, what we have seen remnants of a vegetation that is long gone on Earth. Australia is a bit of an ark conserving this fantastic biodiversity.

“I mean, I knew that from the books but touching it and seeing these wonderful trees is something different. We were completely shocked that this was being logged for paper pulp and timber. Particularly this type of forest, we really couldn’t understand that.” [my yellow highlighting]

It was not just the fact of the logging that stunned, but Bruelheide, but the nature of it. Rather than so-called single-stem logging that is common in places like Germany, where single trees are targeted and removed, loggers here take out whole sections, leaving behind a few trees in compartments (a section of forest identified for logging) that have been identified as critical feed or habitat trees for some endangered species.

“I feel like I was time travelling back to the 60s when this was all over the place,” says Breulheide of what he saw inside a patch of the Moonpar State Forest identified on the Forestry Corporation website as Section 345…..

Overview of a Moonpar State Forest Section 345 in May 2023

Moonpar State Forest Section 345
IMAGE: via @CloudsCreek, 7 May 2023

Closer view of segment of Moonpar State Forest Section 345, May 2023, showing felled native trees. SNAPSHOT: Google Earth Pro

Click on images to enlarge

The Great Koala National Park is no closer to becoming a reality than it was when Labor made a commitment to such a park in January 2015

 

IMAGE: Animal Justice Party NSW

"Of more than 458 000 hectares of Areas of Regional Koala Significance (ARKS) mapped in NSW, only 21% are inside a National Park.

"One of our most iconic species is being subjected to native forest logging and out of control land clearing, and the National Parks estate can't save it unless something big changes.

"Koalas now face extinction in our lifetimes without urgent action. Yet their habitat has virtually no protection from the logging and clearing that is driving this decline.”

[Nature Conservation Council (NCC) chief executive Jacqui Mumford, 28 February 2023]

This was NSW Labor eight years and five months ago….

AAP General News Wire, excerpt, 19 January 2015:

Labor has announced it will work with the Wilderness Society to help nature conservation in NSW.

The Great Koala National Park proposal would take in 315,000 hectares of hinterland forest between Macksville and Woolgoolga, north of Coffs Harbour, combining 176,000 hectares of state forest with 140,000 hectares of existing protected areas.

The park will provide a lifeline to the population of about 4500 koalas that live in the region……

This was NSW Labor in 2023 at Day 81 of its new term as state government – still no further ahead than the talking points of 2015, ignoring the fact that Koala numbers in New South Wales had fallen from est. 36,000 in 2016 to perhaps as few as 11,000 remaining in the wild by 2020 and, as a political party as deep in the pocket of Forestry NSW as the Liberal & National parties…..

Excerpt from letter to the Clerk of the NSW Legislative Assembly from Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage & Labor MLC Penny Sharpe. Click to enlarge

Yet another Northern Rivers forest protector is before the NSW court

IMAGE: Echo, 4 April 2023

 

Forest protector 23 year-old Kashmir Miller (Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours, Southern Cross University) who suspended herself in a tree on a 25m high platform by a rope attached to three NSW Forestry machines in Doubleduke State Forest in early April has had her case adjourned until 11 May 2023, when as R v Kashmir Miller Case No. 2023/00108712 it is scheduled for Ballina Local Court where it is listed as Mention (Police).

Background

Echo, 20 April 2023:

Forest defender Valerie Thompson will today face court in Ballina after she was arrested for stopping forest operations in Doubleduke State Forest north of Grafton.

Ms Thompson sat high in a tree on a platform, in what is referred to as a tree sit, which was attached to logging equipment and stopped logging for 30 hours in early March this year.

The conflicts in Doubleduke have been ongoing, with NSW Forestry Corporation accused of multiple breaches of harvesting laws including failing to map all giant trees and habitat trees.

On Friday last week the EPA instructed the Forestry Corporation to stop work, which is a temporary victory for the forest defenders. Ms Thompson’s protest was carried out while the EPA was carrying out its investigation into breaches that have since been upheld. Ms Thomson faces charges relating to entering a closed forest and interfering with timber harvesting equipment.....

NSW Environment Protection Authority, News, 16 April 2023:

The EPA has acted on community concerns about giant trees in Doubleduke State Forest on Bundjalung Country near Grafton, leading the Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) to voluntarily suspend tree harvesting there.

Update: 20 April 2023

 

FCNSW has completed a remap of active harvest areas as requested by the EPA on 14 April 2023.

The additional mapping provides assurance to the EPA and the community that all retained trees in active harvest areas have been identified and mapped.

Having regard to remapping works undertaken by FCNSW, a voluntarily suspension of operations is no longer requested by the EPA.....

 

Logging is again underway in Doubleduke State Forest. It is not certain that it was ever temporarily suspended in practice.

Protecting old growth trees and saving Banyabba Koalas in March 2023

 

The Echo, 10 March 2023:

View over Valerie’s boots at the logging taking place in Doubleduke State Forest. Photo supplied

The magnificent old trees in a grove known as the Gully of the Giants are still standing this morning. They might not be so lucky tomorrow. The trees are part of Doubleduke State Forest, west of Evan’s Head, being logged under the auspices of the NSW Government’s Forestry Corporation.

Logging couldn’t go ahead this morning because yesterday, Save Banyabba’s Koalas Valerie Thompson, bought the ‘Gully Giants’ a reprieve. Logging was unable to commence due to the logging machinery having been ‘captured’ by the ropes suspending Valerie’s tree platform.

‘I relish the opportunity to spend the night in the forest. I’m hoping I will hear a forest owl or the screech of a yellow-bellied glider, or maybe the bellow of a koala,’ said Valerie.

‘These animals are why I’m here. They depend on the hollows in these old trees to survive. When the trees go, the animals will go too. It could be 100 years until there are trees big enough to provide the size hollows they need.

Some ‘Giants’ already gone

‘At the moment it’s not looking good. We had hoped that the Forestry Corporation would leave these giants, but we’ve seen one on a log truck and another in the log dump.

‘I felt compelled to do something, hoping against hope that as a result of my helping to bring this travesty to public attention someone in authority might be prepared to negotiate. I understand a formal complaint is being submitted today about Forestry’s breaches and calling for an immediate Stop Work Order. I’d be happy to free the machines if they’ll let the old trees live in peace.’

As Valerie sits in the tree waiting for the police to do the bidding of the Forestry Corporation, Greens Senator Janet Rice, is introducing legislation into the Federal Parliament to end native forest logging.

The Ending Native Forest Logging 2023 Bill ‘If passed, will immediately halt the destruction of Australia’s precious native forests and close the loophole used by the logging industry to skirt our national environment laws,’ said Senator Rice.

Valerie said that according to the Australian National University survey the majority of Australians want the logging of native forests to stop….. 

Wednesday 14 March 2023 Save Banyabba Koalas announced on Facebook that:

A very small crew off protectors just faced of an angry crew of Forestry corp workers keeping them away from the Old Growth in Doubleduke Forest.

We need numbers to keep them out for good

#StandUp4Forests

#EndNativeForestLogging

#savebanyabbakoalas

Images: Save Banyabba Koalas

Australian Koala Foundation: human management rather than koala management may be the best way to save the species from extinction

 

The Koala Kiss project comes to town

Australian Koala Foundation announces first 'Koala Kiss Site': A first-of-its-kind Human Plan of Management will see Koala numbers grow over the next 50 years

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Australian Koala Foundation

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The nation’s first ‘Koala Kiss Site’, which is part of the larger Koala Kiss Project has been announced by the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) today, to ensure abundant Koala populations in 50 years.

AKF Chair Deborah Tabart OAM said they had selected the Gwydir Shire in NSW because it contained secure habitat with the ability to have certain points of the landscape connected, creating the first ‘Koala Kiss Site’.

“We see the Gwydir Shire as the perfect pilot project for our long-term vision for the Koalas’ recovery and for the first-of-its-kind Human Plan of Management,” Ms Tabart, also known as the Koala Woman, said.

“There are small discrete populations where Koalas are doing well in this area, and if we reduce the threats there should be healthy Koala populations there in 50 years.”

The Koala Kiss Project aims to link fragmented Koala habitats and identify strategic and/or regrowth opportunities. With the ultimate vision of creating the 'Koala Kamino' - approximately 2,543kms of prime koala habitat from Cairns to Melbourne, that can be created into an uninterrupted conservation corridor by connecting key 'kiss points'.

This is possible with the use of the AKF’s scientific, first-of-its-kind Koala Habitat Atlas, which maps the entire geographic habitat of the Koala across 1.5 million square kilometres.

Rather than a Koala Plan of Management, AKF will demonstrate in the Gwydir Shire how a Human Plan of Management, with Koalas as a flagship can create sustainable communities, despite environmental and human threats.

“We estimate there are less than 1000 Koalas in the Parkes electorate which includes Gunnedah, Inverell, Moree and Gwydir Shire, but, we believe, with careful management their populations can become robust and sustainable into the future. I have seen so many Koala Plans of Management, but what we need is a Human Plan of Management – manage human development and we will have Koalas,” Ms Tabart said.

“It is time for a new way of thinking about Koala conservation and most importantly to not rely on Governments, of all levels, coming and going and changing their laws to allow destruction of Koala habitat.”

“Given 80% of Australia’s Koalas live on private land, it is up to us; those that own that land to become stewards of the biodiversity that is on our properties.”

“It should be simple and I think it could be. That is why the Koala Kiss Project was born. I know it will thrive because it relies on common sense and I truly have faith in us, the people to do the right thing.”

“It is time to write Human Plans of Management that incorporate a holistic approach to each and every landscape with complex and often conflicting priorities.”

The AKF will hold a workshop in Warialda with key stakeholders and community in February 2023 to discuss how a Human Plan of Management can help transform the long-term viability of Koalas in the region.

“This workshop will not just be lamenting the loss of Koalas but inspiring abundance. We can do it if we all work together. We are welcoming everyone from all walks of life to join us at this two-day workshop in Warialda - to think through the complexities and also the excitement of thinking Koalas will be in the Gwydir Shire landscape in 2075,” said Ms Tabart.

“AKF is all about recovery of the species – with the Federal Government officially listing the Koala as Endangered in parts of Australia earlier this year, a Koala Recovery Plan and EPBC Act waiting to be re-written, we’re not sitting idle - it’s clear we must take matters into our own hands and AKF does not need permission from the government to make this vision possible!

“Imagine if we achieve contiguous habitat across the entire stretch of the Koala range, then all creatures great and small could traverse through the bush unthreatened – that is the ultimate goal.”

To find out more about this new vision for the koala visit savethekoala.com/our-work/kiss

The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is the principal non-profit, non-government organisation dedicated to the effective management and conservation of the Koala and its habitat.

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