The Coast Environmental Alliance (CEA) is strengthening their call for more intergovernmental action in the fight to preserve the Central Coast Koala population, and will hold another community rally outside of Central Coast Council’s Gosford building on March 13.
CEA founding member, Jake Cassar, said Australia was running out of time to save the koala from extinction and they would not stand idly by as threats to the local population loomed.
“Australia can either be known internationally for causing the extinction of Koalas, or for saving them from it.
“The world is watching and we are running out of time,” Cassar said.
“There has been 76 officially registered sightings of koalas on the Central Coast since 2000,” Cassar said.
Those sightings include the recently discovered colony living in bushland near the Wallarah 2 Coal Mine site at Wyong, prompting CEA members to hold their second major rally.
Cassar said the CEA is pushing for a moratorium on all projects that will have a significant environmental impact within a 10km radius of koala habitat until independent studies of koala colonies have been undertaken, and this motion will be the cornerstone of the family friendly Koalas Not Coal rally, set to commence from 5:30pm.
The aim of our rally is to gain intergovernmental support to get the best possible outcome for our koalas
Since the devastating fires, the NSW Government has been tightening regulations for development in or nearby known koala habitat, and Cassar said it was the CEA’s hope that this new approach would play a part in preserving what was left of the scattered Central Coast Koala.
“The wheels are certainly starting to turn, and not a moment too soon.
“Between Central Coast Council’s recent proposal to undertake large-scale koala surveys, the federally funded Pearl Beach Koala translocation project, and the State Government’s new Koala Habitat Protection Act, the future for Koalas isn’t looking so dim,” Cassar said.
The Koala Habitat Protection Act came into effect on March 1 and includes some significant changes to the pre-existing policies and procedures around protecting koalas.
“The new act is potentially great news for koalas, and very bad news for unsustainable development.
“The only thing it is lacking is putting an urgent stop to certain projects that are currently endangering koala habitat, and that of course is a problem,” Cassar said.
Cassar, who trained in koala management at Taronga Zoo and has a long history of working closely with the Walkabout Wildlife Park at Calga, said the CEA had been part of verifying the existence of koala colonies at Mangrove Mountain, Bucketty, Avoca, the Watagan State Forest, Gosford and more recently, near Wallarah 2 at Yarramalong.
“We not only have eyewitness accounts, but we have photographic and video evidence that these koalas exist.
“Some of these areas are earmarked for large scale developments with significant environmental impacts.
“These developments must be stopped if we are going to be serious about stopping koalas from becoming extinct.
“We have written to all of the Central Coast Councillors, State MP Liesl Tesch, and Shadow Minister for the Central Coast, David Harris, requesting that they table a motion calling on intergovernmental support for a moratorium on developments that endanger koala habitat on the Central Coast, and that includes the South Korean owned Wallarah 2 Coal Project,” Cassar said.
Cassar said the CEA was anticipating that more than 500 people would attend the Koalas Not Coal rally.
“I believe the will to protect our unique Australian wildlife has the power to transcend oppositional party politics and bridge the gap between the left and right of politics,” Cassar said.
The rally announcement comes after the CEA’s latest community koala search in Dooralong. which saw 200 locals take to bushland to search for signs of koalas.
Cassar said the aim for the day was to inform people about koalas and to equip them with the tools they need to search for them without negatively impacting on their habitat.
“We looked at some of the 123 Eucalypt species that koalas use as feed trees, we identified their tracks, droppings and other signs of koalas being present in the local bush,” Cassar said.
“We need more than just hopes and prayers, we need everyday people to step up and take action,” he said.
Broadcaster, SBS Television, also attended the day and will air a story on the Central Coast Koala later in March.
Source:
Media release, Mar 2
Jake Cassar, Coast Environmental Alliance