By BELINDA PARKES
Unfortunately no pic but I am sure a file koala pic can be used –
THE Tweed’s disappearing koala population will have a better chance of avoiding extinction after private landowners John and Judy Murray took up a council offer to plant koala food trees on their land.
Although once abundant in the Tweed, the number of koalas remaining on the Tweed Coast is estimated to be in the low hundreds with the species virtually gone from Kingscliff to Tweed Heads.
In a bid to provide a more secure future for the remaining coastal koalas, Tweed Shire Council has been given a NSW Environmental Trust grant of just under $100,000 for its Koala Connections project which aims to restore and reconnect fragmented koala habitats.
Mr and Mrs Murray are one of the first to have taken up the opportunity to have the local koalas’ preferred species of eucalypt trees planted on their Round Mountain property.
Other trees, popular for perching, will also be planted as part of a corridor to connect them to other parts of their habitat.
The rest of the $10,000 being spent on the Murray’s property will help with weed control and fencing to minimise damage to the new trees.
“We used to regularly see koalas on our 25 acres but in the last three to five years they have basically disappeared,” said Mr Murray.
He said sadly wildlife and humans had not been co-existing, however creating linkages to help them cross open paddocks without the risk of being hit by cars or attacked by predators was a step towards sharing the land.
“Most landowners have some disused part of their property where they could plant trees such as gullies or eroded land,” he said.
“Why not do it? It reduces the work you need to do to keep your property under control and there are nothing but benefits to come from it.”
The Murrays are also helping with the work, having moved their boundary fence in by two to three metres to make way for the new tree corridor and removing invasive weed species.
Mr Murray hopes the Koala Connection project, combined with wild dog control efforts being undertaken by the NSW State Government, would enable the koala population to revive.
Former wildlife carers, they will also make some of the plants available for the rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned koalas.
