Article by Des Andersen, SNELandcare Project Manager
In 2015, Southern New England Landcare commenced a project with landholders and the wider community to provide a helping hand for the conservation of two iconic local species.
"Quollity Koala Corridors and Questions" aims to provide a range of active and passive management tools that enable meaningful community involvement in the conservation of the Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) and Spotted tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus). The project will enable us to better manage koala and quoll populations in terms of numbers and movements throughout corridors around Armidale.
To facilitate better management, a survey of 11 landholder properties was undertaken in the summer of 2015-16. The survey determined the presence of Koalas and Spotted-tailed Quolls at each site where the project is funding Koala and Quoll habitat restoration. The survey was undertaken by local ecologist Steve Debus. Sites were selected with the support of anecdotal evidence from landholders and fall within a wider movement corridor shown in the map.
Of the 11 properties surveyed, evidence of Koala presence occurred on 8 properties. The main body of evidence was provided through the identification of tree scratches and adjacent scats (droppings) indicating recent Koala presence on or near the individual tree. This accounted for 7 of the 11 sites surveyed. One response to Koala call playback from a loudspeaker occurred near one property.
Although spotlighting and infrared cameras failed to produce any sightings of live animals, anecdotal and photographic evidence from landholders indicated Koalas have been present on most properties. The picture above depicts a "live" sighting from a participating property in the Herbert Park area.
Surveying for Quolls across the same sites unfortunately did not produce any evidence of recent Quoll movements, perhaps due to the increased difficulty in determining their presence. Quolls are by nature more transient than Koalas and do not leave evidence such as scratches. Again, anecdotal evidence from participating landholders provided some evidence of Quolls in the survey area, in particular from landholders who have noted Quoll interest in their chicken coops!
In NSW, the Koala and Spotted tailed Quoll are listed as endangered and vulnerable species respectively. The future management of our local Koala and Quoll populations relies heavily on the assistance of the community in both rural and urban areas to help reduce Key Threatening Processes (KTPs). In urban areas, KTP's include vehicle strikes and predation by dogs, impediments to movement (such as metal fencing) and lack of cover, while in rural areas the main threat is posed by diminishing habitat and connecting corridors.
The project offers a range of management tools to address KTP's by preserving and revegetating 37 hectares of critical habitat within key movement corridors on rural land. The project will fund a number of community events later in 2016 and in early 2017 with the purpose of raising awareness and providing easily accessible tools to assist Koala and Quoll conservation.
Conservation strategies include providing Koala-friendly fences and ropes between trees to assist Koala movement in urban areas and using online platforms to report Koala and Quoll sightings via the Armidale Regional Council website. Field days will be conducted on site in known wildlife corridors and include training from specialist wildlife ecologists eager to share some helpful Koala and Quoll identification skills.
"Quollity Koala Corridors and Questions" is funded through the NSW Environmental Trust.
