Rescue corridors created for koalas in Australia

In Australia, special corridors have been created for koalas. They help preserve the population of “cute” marsupials. The trees are being planted near rivers in a state hardest hit by fires and deforestation. The total number of animals left without homes is about 3 billion. “Green corridors” should help scientists preserve such a species of marsupial as koalas.

Lucy the koala was rescued in New South Wales in 2021. During this time, she was cured of chlamydia, a disease widespread among koalas. Now she is one of the residents of the “green corridor”. New South Wales is the first Australian state to commit to protecting the marsupial by preserving its rapidly declining habitat, news outlet Reuters reports.

Extensive areas of vegetation planted by local conservation group Bangalow Koalas in the state’s Northern Rivers region. They are called a lifeline for koalas and many other species such as the critically endangered glossy black cockatoo, gliders, possums and wallabies.

The idea behind such corridors is that they provide safe passage through increasingly fragmented koala habitat, increasing genetic diversity and protecting the animals from human threats.

“Our corridors are really trying to keep them away from people, away from cars, away from dogs,” said Linda Sparrow, head of the Bangalow Koalas. She added that “here they can move around safely and don’t have to put up with us.”

The koala is predicted to disappear from the wild in New South Wales by 2050, with bushfires, habitat loss from logging and land clearing for development being some of the biggest threats. Several Australian states have already declared koalas a critically endangered species.

Founded in 2019, Bangalow Koalas has planted more than 336,000 trees across 119 locations, contributing to koala conservation and strengthening the local ecosystem. The group, which relies on local volunteers, aims to plant 500,000 trees by 2025.

“The neighbor will want to join, and then the other neighbor will want to join. It’s like a domino effect with people all over the North Shore wanting to join our corridor,” Sparrow shares about how people are getting involved in animal rescue.

Volunteer Lindy Stacker, who has been planting trees for more than five years, says the activity is “better than meditation, better than yoga” and brings the community together.

“And this action not only makes you feel great, but also unites people and informs them about the problem,” the volunteer told the Reuters news agency.

In a recent report from the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF), researchers learned that the iconic marsupial is worth an estimated $3.2 billion a year to the tourism industry.

However, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Australia has reported an alarming decline in the koala population, with a 50% decline in Queensland and 62% in New South Wales since 2001. After the fires in 2021, marsupials were on the verge of extinction.

“I can’t imagine a world where there are no koalas in the wild. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Linda Sparrow said.

The site where the first corridor was created used to be a dairy farm. EcoCrew member Sally Kennedy explains: “At one time, all the land here was forested. But we were lucky. Of the 220 acres we own, only 70 acres have been cleared. I think by planting these additional trees we will help the various animals that live closer to the coast return to the interior and the state forest.”

The Koala Corridors project is part of WWF Australia’s ambitious plan to grow and save two billion trees by 2030.

WWF-Australia’s Head of Healthy Lands and Seascapes, Tim Cronin, shares plans for the project and says that “we want to connect these pristine areas of the country back together to allow for greater movement of wildlife across the landscape.”