Calls to end destruction of koala habitat in Queensland
"The loss of this much habitat is shocking given the recent statement that koalas are functionally extinct in various parts of Queensland."
"If we want to save koalas in Queensland then we have to stop the bulldozers destroying their habitat," said Dr Martin Taylor, a conservation scientist at WWF Australia.
WWF and the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) have revealed that a staggering 84,000 hectares of critical koala habitat has been destroyed in Queensland over just two years, since the state's land clearance laws were relaxed.
Dr Taylor and AKF landscape ecologist David Mitchell compared the official Queensland maps of vegetation clearing with AKF's koala habitat mapping. They discovered that 37,000 hectares of critical habitat was lost in 2013/14, rising to 47,000 hectares in 2014/15.
The majority of clearing (91 per cent) was for pasture and included clearances using the controversial self-assessable thinning codes, which allow certain types of land to be cleared without a permit.
AKF chief executive officer, Deborah Tabart, said: "How can this happen when the koala was listed as vulnerable under federal laws in 2012? Why wasn't this land clearing referred to the federal government instead of a rubber stamp here in Queensland?
"The loss of this much habitat is shocking given the recent statement that koalas are functionally extinct in various parts of Queensland."
WWF and AKF say that retaining all the remaining habitat is key to the koala's recovery. The two groups are urging members of parliament in Queensland to support a bill to restore the state's land clearing controls.
