In response to the Black Summer Bushfires and legislative inquiry into koalas and their habitat, the NSW Government released a new Koala Strategy on 14 April 2022, aimed at doubling the koala population in NSW by 2050. The NSW Koala Strategy is a commitment by State to spend $193.3 million in the next five years.
Port Macquarie has been identified as one of 19 'koala strongholds' for immediate investment and Council was successful in obtaining State funding for koala habitat mapping.
For questions about this project, please reach out to Dr Jamie Seaton at 0466 413 645 or via email at jamie@socialaspect.com.au
Koala Advisory Committee (KAC)
Set out within the funding agreement are the committee membership and terms of reference requirements. Noting that members have already been accepted, the role of the KAC is advisory rather than decision making and is designed to support Council including information sharing with community, advising on any issues as they arise and providing advice on the project.
This page will be updated with the minutes from the committee's regular meetings once they have commenced.
Koala Habitat Mapping methodology
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) methodology for identifying survey sites involves:
Data sharing, including PMHC mapping layers from:
- Biolink - Potential Koala Habitat (2014)
- LGA specific koala food tree list based on information from local ecologists
- North Coast regional Plan 2041 areas at risk from development to be included in focus areas
- Cadastre layer for property identification.
DCCEEW then identified “Highly Suitable Koala Habitat” Plant Community Types (PCTs) based on preferred koala food trees and assigned habitat classes.
Once habitat mapping was complete, 2.5km grids of generational persistence for koala were overlayed and assigned which are generated from Bionet records to assign priority.
Priority survey sites were then selected by combining the two previous layers to locate areas for survey for koalas where knowledge gaps exist. It is these sites where we will be requesting permission from owners to survey with the koala detector dog.
Dog survey methodology: Dash the Wonder Dog
Working with a GPS tracker on their collar, detector dogs can cover an area in a day that would take most humans two or three to complete. Watch the video below to learn more:
Follow Dash along her koala habitat mapping journey.