Logan and Albert Conservation Association

Logan and Albert Conservation Association LACA ,Brisbane Region Environment Council BREC and Residents Action on Infrastructure Development and Environment RAIDE have been working with the EPA, Main Roads Metro, Main Roads Nerang and Logan City Council for the last 3 years to provide a dedicated fauna underpass immediately south of Stoney Camp Rd and Granger Rd (under the Mt Lindesay Highway) and to improve the environmental designs of the highway to facilitate local and regional fauna movement. This is part of the regional biodiversity corridor and is used by wildlife - eastern grey kangaroos koalas and other less visible to us fauna. Munruben Wetlands locally called Jerry's Downfall is also where the nationally endangered spotted tailed quoll has been 'spotted'. 

This week the volunteers removed a large quantity of Lantana from the revegetation area and continued to stockpile mulch in readiness for planting. After 5 days of perfect Queensland winter weather it was obvious that the volunteers have had quite an impact on the area.

This is the third group of volunteers from Conservation Volunteers Australia to be involved in the revegetation of the area at Veresdale. The group is made up of overseas visitors (mostly students) who would like to learn more about Australia by working to benefit the environment.

Week four photos will be posted soon.

                YOUR INPUT IS NEEDED TO PROTECT KOALAS.

This week Premier Anna Bligh and Andrew McNamara , Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation announced the urgent need for a koala taskforce and rescue plan. Recent reports predicted a decline in koala populations and that koalas could be extinct in South-east Queensland within the next 20 years.

Reports by GHD consultants for Moreton Regional Council showed a 46% decline in the last 6 years in Pine Rivers' urban koala population density, and an EPA report in 2007 showed numbers had dropped by 26% in the Koala Coast Region (Redlands Council).

While Logan and Albert Conservation Association agree with the summation of the report, this announcement comes after the Premier officially released 40 000 hectares of bushland for development under the guise of affordable housing, despite the protests of conservation groups in South-east Queensland.

Despite these predicted declines in koalas in South-east Queensland, massive development is still proposed for Logan City Council and Scenic Rim Regional Council areas with population increases of 30 000 for Park Ridge MPA, 25 000 for Greenbank, 60 000 for Flagstone and 60 000 for Yarrabilba as part of the SEQRP. The koala populations of Logan City and the Scenic Rim Region are still unknown. To date no official koala surveys have been conducted to identify and map Koala Conservation Areas. LACA believes Logan Council will conduct surveys in former Beaudesert Shire areas.

Premier The Honourable Anna Bligh, and Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation The Honourable Andrew McNamara released a joint statement Wednesday 5 August 2008. It reads

• Tighter planning controls and dog laws,
• stronger protection of key habitats and
• an expanded network of road crossings

are among options to be considered as the Bligh Government confronts a crisis facing koalas in southeast Queensland.
Premier Anna Bligh said new research showed the population of koalas in the wild was directly linked to the animals' movement through urban areas and urgent action was needed to slow the dramatic mortality rate.
This information has come to light since the introduction in 2006 of the Government's Koala Plan and means more radical moves are needed to stop the extinction of koalas in SEQ.

All levels of government need to place more value on conserving koalas and their essential habitat now in order for the koala species to survive in Australia. Dr Hanger from the Wildlife Hospital Australia  reports on the latest findings of a study University of Queensland have conducted the past year following the progress of 10 koalas which, up until their release, had never lived independently. This story is available from Sunshine Coast Daily Online. Read it here.

The Australian Koala Foundation and other conservation groups are very concerned about the longterm survival of the koala - our national icon. AKF called for an overhaul of the 1998 National Koala Strategy because it has "not helped the koalas" with over 25 000 recorded koala deaths since its inception. The media release is available here. Australian Koala Foundation also has an enewsletter which can be accessed from the same page.

Koala Campaigners is a recent strategy led by the Australian Koala Foundation to help you help the koala.

The State Government push to open up more Greenfield developments has given the green light for an aggressive push by developers to urbanize vast tracks of land.

In Redlands, Woodlands Drive is one of the most picturesque areas, protected from urban development by the Redlands Local Planning Scheme, but it hasn't stopped the State Government nominating it as a potential site for urbanization. The consequence is that developers have lodged a development application for commercial and residential development over this beautiful area.