Seeds of hope for koalas
In a major boost for fire-affected koala populations, a huge tree-planting project begins in the Northern Rivers of NSW.
FRIENDS OF THE Koala (FOK), a volunteer-run grassroots conservation organisation based in Lismore, New South Wales, knows better than most just how badly the Black Summer bushfires of 2019–20 have affected koala populations in this former stronghold for the much-loved but beleaguered marsupial. FOK’s plant nursery and koala sanctuary in the Northern Rivers region has been selected to receive special funding and other practical assistance by the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife (FNPW). This non-governmental body is the charitable partner of Australia’s national parks, and raising funds to buy properties is one of its many activities. Since its foundation in 1970 it has added 637,727ha to the national estate, to be protected in perpetuity.
The FNPW’s bushfire recovery programs, including Healing Our Land and A Million Trees for Australia, seek to plant a million trees in Bushfire Recovery Nurseries across the country by 2025, helping restore local native vegetation species lost in the fires. In turn, it’s hoped key fauna species that rely on highly specialised habitats, such as the koala and glossy black-cockatoo, both of which were particularly adversely impacted, will benefit in time from these targeted restoration efforts.
FOK has expanded the footprint of its plant nursery area to accommodate the extra seedlings that have been propagated for the program. On land donated for the purpose by its neighbour Southern Cross University, it has a range of eucalypt tree species at various stages of growth. Nursery manager Mark Wilson, who does most of the seed propagation himself, alongside volunteers who assist with potting and weeding, acknowledges the wider benefits of the funds. “It’s been a real bonus in the sense that…it’s given us great exposure and connections with other organisations, and it enables us to get so many more trees in the ground.”
The grant has expanded the capacity of the nursery from 20,000 to 100,000 seedlings, which will be be planted out on both public and private bushfire-impacted land as they mature. The FNPW has provided funding to other nurseries, including at Yankalilla in South Australia and Greening Australia in the ACT. The AG Society contributed a portion of its emergency bushfire funds to the FNPW program.