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Too late to protect koalas - says lobbyist Deb Tabart

Too late to protect koalas: lobbyist

NO-TREE-NO-ME Headlines from DARREN CARTWRIGHT's coverage in The Age newspaper reports on the current koala situation in SOUTH EAST QEENSLAND for September 1, 2009

The Queensland government's new measures to prevent koalas dying out southeast of Brisbane are too little, too late, says Australian Koala Foundation boss Deb Tabart.

Ms Tabart said it has been predicted that by next year no koalas will inhabit the Koala Coast region, which is 375 square kilometres of land starting 20km southeast of Brisbane.

The state government has already acknowledged the dire situation of koalas in the region in a 2008 report, Decline of the Koala Coast Koala Population.

Ms Tabart on Tuesday said Premier Anna Bligh wrote to her this week outlining a new conservation policy for 2009 to prevent any further decline in koala numbers, which have plummeted from more than 6,000 between 1996-99 to just over 2,000 in 2008.

"It won't do anything. It's just delusion on their part," Ms Tabart told AAP, referring to the new policy.

"The only thing that will stop koalas dying is to stop cutting trees. It's as simple as that.

 

"It doesn't mean you can't develop next to those trees but at the moment they just let developers knock everything down, move koalas on and they get killed on a road or by a dog.

"In the Koala Coast area (they will be extinct) and the government has admitted that themselves."

To highlight the plight of the marsupial, the Australian Koala Foundation launched its "No Tree, No Me" campaign at Dreamworld on Tuesday.

Victorian volunteer firefighter David Tree, who saved Sam the koala during the February bushfires, helped launch the campaign. Mr Tree said he was passionate about wildlife long before he stumbled upon Sam and hit the headlines.

"I've always felt very strongly about saving and preserving the life of animals and I think people have to be more aware of dwindling koala numbers," Mr Tree said.

The story is published online here.

Read 1875 times Last modified on Wednesday, 24 July 2019 04:43