2019-03-12 P&E Agenda - Item 5 - Attachment 2 - Koala Infrastructure & Feasibility Report

2.              Methods

2.1.            Literature Review
A review of available literature was conducted to understand measures used to mitigate wildlife vehicle-
strike and the barrier effect of roads, their efficacy and application to koala conservation.
Examples of applications to other wildlife were used where no koala-specific information has been published.

2.2.            Geospatial Analysis
Geospatial analysis of koala habitat areas identified hotspots for koala-vehicle collisions and target areas for
the infrastructure audit and gap analysis.

South East Queensland Catchments (SEQC) and the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) undertook field
surveys using a koala scat detection dog to assess MSES koala habitat mapping and create a new koala habitat
map for Noosa Shire Council in 2015 (Figure 2). This mapping was used as a basis for this project.

Roads with a high risk of koala mortality due to collision with vehicles have been identified as areas of:

•    high habitat connectivity or known koala corridors; with
•    high density of near-road koala sightings and/or koala-vehicle collision records

Koala sightings are more likely to be recorded in highly populated areas where koala habitat is highly
fragmented. In these areas, a greater number of records is likely to reflect the number of observers rather
than indicate a large koala population. It is therefore important not to overlook potential high risk rural areas
where koala sightings and/or collisions may go unrecorded. To overcome this, habitat connectivity and
indicative linkages were modelled and combined with a density analysis of koala records (sightings and
collisions).

2.2.1.          Connectivity and Indicative Linkages
Connectivity analysis intersected with roads assists in identifying potential koala crossing areas and
complements koala records.

Existing koala habitat mapping for Noosa Council (Noosa Council 2016) was combined with koala mapping
for adjoining shires (Gympie Regional Council (GRC) and Sunshine Coast Council (SCC)) to include up to 2 km
of habitat outside the Noosa Council boundary. This ensured connectivity areas along shire boundaries were
included in the final model for identifying high risk areas.

Koala habitat mapping was rated as high and medium koala habitat value to identify high quality core habitat
areas. High koala habitat included all identified habitat other than mapped Matters of State Environmental
Significance (MSES) that did not correlate with Noosa’s mapping (Noosa Council 2016), and was categorised
as medium (Figure 3). Detailed methods are contained in Appendix B.

Core habitat and/or corridors (>100m in width) were extracted and incorporated with smaller patches of
habitat (Figure 4) to create a connectivity model using focal statistical techniques. It is important to delineate
and prioritise areas where high connectivity or core koala habitat exists on both sides of a road over areas
with isolated patches of habitat on only one side of the road.

Connectivity analysis identifies both:

•    Indicative regional links where core habitat exists along both sides of a long stretch of road and koalas
     may be crossing anywhere within this stretch; and

Koala Infrastructure Audit & Feasibility Report                                                              Page 3

Noosa Council
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