Room to roam for Byron’s famous koalas

Some of Byron Bay’s most photographed residents are getting a little more room to move, with more than 2,000 trees planted to create new habitat for koalas living around The Pass.

The community planting in Arakwal National Park aims to extend koala habitat south from the Cape Byron headland, where the local population is confined to a relatively small patch of heavily browsed forest.

Bangalow Koalas organised the July 29 planting in consultation with the Arakwal National Park joint management committee, bringing together Arakwal National Park rangers, Byron Bay High School students, community volunteers and representatives from Australia Post and WWF-Australia.

Bangalow Koalas president Linda Sparrow said the trees would give koalas somewhere to go beyond the busy headland.

‘Their trees are over browsed; they’re under the constant threat of car strikes and getting harassed by tourists and people in general,’ Ms Sparrow said.

‘So we wanted to create habitat to give them a corridor to spread out away from those risks.’

The planting took place on previously cleared land between Cape Byron State Conservation Area and Arakwal National Park.

Arakwal-Bundjalung man and National Parks ranger Norm Graham said koalas were already known to move between the Cape and Arakwal.

‘These plantings will help future survival by providing a valuable food source in their journey across Country,’ Mr Graham said.

The project also has a broader regeneration story.

‘Our Country’s had a lot of impacts over time,’ Mr Graham said. ‘Where we’re standing today has been impacted by sand mining.

‘It is a little bit of a scar on the landscape, and today is about healing that scar.’

The planting forms part of WWF-Australia’s Koalas Forever program, supported by Australia Post, which aims to restore and connect koala habitat across the Northern Rivers.