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

Executive Summary
Conservation planning for koalas and the habitat they depend upon are important considerations for
improving planning and management practises to ensure long term conservation of koalas. Noosa Council
(Council) has adopted a Koala Conservation Plan, requiring Council to undertake a koala infrastructure audit
to assess the condition and effectiveness of current infrastructure and inform recommendations for potential
new infrastructure. O2 Ecology has partnered with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) to provide
Council with a thorough understanding of koala infrastructure within the Noosa Council Local Government
Area (LGA) and recommendations for future infrastructure.

This project completes a field audit of existing koala infrastructure and identifies areas for additional koala
infrastructure. A review of available literature and geospatial analysis support recommendations for
potential measures to reduce koala-vehicle collisions and allow permeability to koala movement across
roads.

Koala habitat areas are mapped at both a State (South East Queensland Koala Conservation State Planning
Regulatory Provisions (SPRP)) and local level (Noosa Shire Koala Conservation Plan 2016). The project focuses
on road infrastructure within mapped Koala Habitat Areas.

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.

Mitigation measures used to reduce the effects of roads and road mortality on wildlife populations fall into
two broad categories following the Noosa Shire Koala Conservation Plan 2016 (Noosa Council 2016):

•    hard infrastructure – structures that generally involve the modification of animal behaviour such as
     exclusion and guiding fences, bridges, underpasses, culverts and koala ladders
•    soft infrastructure – measures that generally involve the modification of motorist behaviour such as
     speed limit reductions, signs, road markings and improved street lighting

Modifying animal behaviour may help to address vulnerability to road-kill and barrier effects by preventing
fauna from accessing the road surface and allowing safe passage across roads. Commonly used methods
include wildlife exclusion fencing and wildlife crossing structures (culvert, underpass, overpass, rope bridges).
Some other methods, which are considered ineffective or impractical, include wildlife warning reflectors and
repellents (chemical, visual, acoustic and electric shock).

Wildlife exclusion fencing and wildlife crossing structures are currently the most effective measures available.
They are also most effective when implemented together. Exclusion fences prevent wildlife from crossing
the road surface, minimising road-kill but also preventing wildlife from accessing resources on the opposite
side of the road. Wildlife crossing structures allow safe fauna passage across the road but fauna is unlikely to
find and use the passage unless fencing funnels fauna to the crossing infrastructure. Providing ample and
appropriate crossing structures while preventing access to the road surface will allow wildlife movement and
minimise roadkill. Provisions should also be made to allow escape from the road surface should an animal
wander into a fenced area of road, structures such as one-way gates can be integrated into fences to provide
escape routes.

Slowing traffic speed and increased driver awareness may assist in mitigating the effect of roads by reducing
the potential for vehicle-wildlife collisions. Measures aimed at modifying and assisting driver behaviour to
travel at slower speeds and actively look for wildlife to avoid potential collisions can include speed reduction
measures, speed limit enforcement, lighting, signs, road reserve management and road threshold
treatments. These measures are commonly employed as they do not involve construction of large or complex
Koala Infrastructure Audit & Feasibility Report                                                            Page iii

Noosa Council
17SUN-0087/1700860