Expansion of the Koala Habitat Restoration Partnership Program
Since its commencement in 2019, the Koala Habitat Restoration Partnership Program (KHRPP) has established seven projects across south-east Queensland, which over the 5-year duration of the program will result in the restoration of more than 255 hectares of koala habitat.
KHRPP projects are located on private landowner sites with existing koala populations. By revegetating koala food and habitat trees, this project will increase the habitat available to koalas and their offspring. The KHRPP will also help improve the quality of the existing koala habitat. This is managed through the control of environmental weeds as well as promoting natural regeneration processes by undertaking seasonal cultural cool burning and supplementary planting.
The Queensland Trust for Nature (QTFN) believes that project success can only be guaranteed through strong, durable and meaningful partnerships. Through the seven KHRPP projects, the program has established more than eight project funding and delivery partnerships including local governments (LGs), universities, non-Government organisations (NGOs) and private landholders. The KHRPP is currently delivering projects across five local government areas. The KHRPP has developed an integrated, cost-effective, partnership model for the delivery of koala habitat restoration in south-east Queensland (SEQ).
The success of the KHRPP has seen the Queensland Government increase the funding capacity of the program from their initial investment of $1.78m to $4.48m, enabling the program to significantly increase the amount of koala habitat restoration delivered across regions of the South-East of our state. The scope of the KHRPP will also expand, with the KHRPP partnering with the Land Restoration Fund (LRF) to investigate ways that carbon offsetting can be incorporated into koala habitat projects. This will supplement delivery costs and increase the amount of habitat restoration return for the koala conservation funding invested.
With the expansion of the KHRPP in 2021, QTFN will further enhance our relationships with LGs and other stakeholders. In doing this we will increase the scope of engagement with the aim to identify tailored local pathways for the establishment of durable, enduring local and regional partnerships, to inform a realistic landscape scale approach to koala habitat restoration.
QTFN will be undertaking a range of community activities including tree planting events, free koala tree give-aways and the establishment of a citizen science program to assist the monitoring of koala populations. Click here to learn more about the Koala Habitat Restoration Program.
