On a cold morning on Saturday 29th May, some 30 local landholders from around the Dangarsleigh, Castledoyle and Kelly’s Plains localities attended Southern New England Landcare's latest landholder engagement event focussed on Koalas.
The Northern Tablelands is recognised by the NSW Government as a critical koala conservation area.
Northern Tablelands Koala Partnership Project Officer, Mr Des Andersen said, "Participants provided many insightful anecdotes and pictures of recent koala sightings, particularly from around the Castledoyle area."
"Recording and reporting koala sightings is critical to drive government funded research and conservation in areas of regional koala significance," he said.
"These areas of regional significance are also referred to as koala ARKS", said Des, "and the Northern Tablelands is one of them".
The event was thoroughly enjoyed by both participants and presenters, with the Armidale Dumaresq Lions Club ensuring a BBQ was kept blazing on a cold New England day.
Participants were able to warm their hands by an open fire and enjoy a sausage sandwich provided by expert BBQ chefs.
Staff from Armidale Regional Council were also on hand to discuss Council’s strategy to help protect our local koala population.
A key objective of the Northern Tablelands Koala Partnership Project is to involve the skills and knowledge of our local community in key koala conservation activities including:
- Reporting koala sightings
- Providing habitat on properties
- Helping to reduce key threats such as dog attacks and vehicle strikes
- Providing mounted drinking stations within koala habitat during droughts
The Koala Partnership Project will continue to inform and engage our community in koala conservation actions and residents can be involved in several ways including:
- Report koala sightings by downloading the I Spy Koala app or using the Armidale Regional Council website
- Report sick or injured koalas to WIRES (1300 094 737) or the Northern Tablelands Wildlife Cares (1800 008 290)
- Take care when driving through bushland areas
- Provide climbing structures such as ropes or solid wooden posts against colour bond fences so that Koalas can safely cross
- Contact Southern New England Landcare to access funding for revegetation or habitat conservation on rural lands.
The aim of the Northern Tablelands Koala Project is to engage community support to ensure koalas remain in the wild for the next 100 years.
This event was sponsored by the NSW Government Saving Our Species program. Southern New England Landcare would like to thank participants for their support.
Koala images courtesy of Gaylene Northey, event images courtesy of Struan Ferguson.Top: Local landowners listening to presentations. Centre: Margaret O'Connor and others discuss koala corridor maps. Bottom: A koala spotted in the Dangarsleigh area.
Acknowledgement: This initiative has been made possible through the Northern Tablelands Koala Partnership Project, hosted by Southern New England Landcare Ltd, and funded by the NSW Government.