2016-04-19 P&E Committee - Item 4, Attachment 1 - Draft Koala Conservation Management Plan

 1.2.8     Increased community awareness and participation

 Residents and visitors have a great interest in our local koalas. Involving residents,
 visitors and community groups in koala conservation has a number of benefits:

        Encouraging landholders to plant koala food trees;
        Participating in the collection of data for research purposes;
        Raising awareness of threats from dogs, cars, fencing and pool drowning;
        Improved reporting measures for sick/injured/orphaned koalas;
        Capacity building for koala habitat restoration projects with key stakeholders.

 Council will continue to support koala conservation through attendance at public
 events and provision of education materials.

 There are a number of active organisations involved with the conservation of koalas.
 Advocacy groups include the Australian Koala Foundation, Queensland Koala
 Crusaders, Koala Tracker, and Koala Diaries. In addition there are several wildlife care
 groups involved with saving koalas such as Australia Zoo, Sunshine Coast Koala
 Rescue, Wilvos, Wildlife Rescue and Wild Care. Research organisations include the
 University of Sunshine Coast Detection Dogs for Conservation and University of
 Queensland Koala Research Network. Environment groups, natural resource
 management groups and government agencies are also key stakeholders in koala
 conservation.

 The identified stakeholder groups in Appendix 3 have been consulted on the Koala
 Conservation Plan. Council will continue to work with these organisations through-out
 implementation phases of the Plan.



Case Study: Cooroy Lower Mill Site Project

In 2005, Noosa Council and the Noosa and District Landcare Group (NDLG) joined
forces to rehabilitate Cooroy Creek. The first stage was to remove environmental weeds,
particularly Camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora) which was dominating the creek
and shading out native vegetation. Following this, native plant species including koala
food trees, were planted to bring the creek back to a natural condition. The success of
this project led to further funding and restoration of Cooroy Creek. Funding contributors
included Council, NDLG, Burnett Mary Regional Group, Mary River Catchment
Coordinating Committee and SEQ Water. The Cooroy Lower Mill Site Project has reaped
multiple benefits including improved water quality, greater public amenity, and even
recent recorded sightings of koalas.




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