2019-03-12 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                               12 MARCH 2019


Crusaders was successful in gaining $7,577 in Council grant funding to conduct training
workshops in koala rescue and encourage the recruitment of more koala rescue volunteers.
Other matters-Queensland Koala Expert Panel
In 2015 the South East Queensland Koala Population Modelling Study demonstrated that SEQ
was experiencing dramatic population decline in SEQ. Between 1996 and 2014 there was an
80% decline in population densities in the Koala Coast (Redlands, Brisbane and Logan) and 54%
decline in Pine Rivers. The State Government established a Koala Expert Panel to examine the
issue and make recommendations on measures to reverse the decline. In 2017 the Koala Expert
Panel released their report and made six key recommendations. These recommendations are
summarised in Table 4:




Table 4. Recommendations from the Queensland Koala Expert Panel
In response the Queensland Government has outlined the next steps to implement the panel’s
recommendations, including:
   developing options for enhancing and strengthening existing investment in koala
     management and planning to align with the Panel’s recommendations;
   appointing a Koala Advisory Council that includes representatives from relevant state and
     local governments, community, NGOs and industry; and
   developing a SEQ Koala Conservation Strategy which establishes targets for koala
     conservation, maps a network of priority areas for conservation efforts and details actions
     and a monitoring program that measures progress against targets.
A Koala Advisory Council has been appointed with representatives from RSPCA, Universities,
Zoos, UDIA, Wilderness Society, LGAQ, Healthy Land & Water, Traditional Land Owners, and
the Development and Timber Industry.
Previous Council Consideration
Ordinary Meeting Minutes, 17 August 2017, Page 6, Item 6
That Council note the report by the Principal Environment Officer to the Planning & Environment
Committee Meeting dated 8 August 2017 regarding the progress of the Koala Conservation Plan
2016.



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