A new parliamentary report says that koala extinction in NSW could happen before the year 2050 and is urging the government to take action to preserve habitat.
The year-long inquiry found habitat loss from the 2019-2020 bushfires has resulted in as much as 81% of habitat loss in some areas of NSW where koalas live.
“Given the scale of loss as a result of the fires to many significant local populations, the committee believes the koala will become extinct in New South Wales well before 2050,” states the report.
It added, “urgent government intervention is required to protect their habitat and address all other threats to their ongoing survival.”
The committee also claims the government’s estimate of 36,000 koalas in NSW is outdated and unreliable.
“This report must be a gamechanger for koalas and the protection of their habitat in NSW,” says Cate Faehrmann, Greens MLC and committee chair.
“The strategies and policies currently in place to protect the koala aren’t working, like the NSW Koala Strategy, which fails in ensuring enough koala habitat is protected for the different koala populations across the state,” she continues.
“The only way our children’s grandchildren will see a koala in the wild in NSW will be if the government acts upon the committee’s recommendations.”
Key actions to save koala’s from extinction
The report lays out 42 recommendations to protect the koala populations.
It includes improving monitoring methods, boosting funding for community conservation initiatives and incentives for farmers to protect land.
Australia’s Nature Conservation Council of NSW say the report sheds light on the reality of koala extinction.
“We are pleased that there is a growing political consensus that koala extinction is a very real possibility if we don’t act urgently to protect koala habitat,” the council’s chief executive, Chris Gambian, said.
Gambian claims state and federal laws are to blame for the decline in koala numbers and threat of koala extinction.
“What’s the point of environment laws that set a course for the extinction of our most iconic national species?” he said.
“The plight of the species is the clearest argument that we must overhaul our environmental laws to reverse the trend.”