Northern Rivers residents are being invited to help shape a new NSW koala conservation strategy, with specific local actions and investment priorities to be detailed in a separate implementation plan.
Released for consultation on October 12, the draft identifies 39 priority management areas across NSW, including the Far North East.
These areas would guide government investment in tackling threats including habitat loss, fire, vehicle strikes and disease.
However, inclusion on the map does not establish which conservation projects will receive funding.
‘Not all of the actions listed in the toolbox will be funded or delivered by the NSW Government,’ the draft states.
The strategy sets out potential measures including habitat acquisition, conservation agreements with private landholders, revegetation, wildlife crossings, disease management and support for koala rescue and rehabilitation.
It also identifies opportunities for councils, landholders and other organisations to fund and deliver conservation work.
A publicly available implementation plan will identify priority areas and the actions required during the strategy’s first three years.
The draft includes an illustrative plan for the Southern Highlands, but does not provide an equivalent schedule of projects for the Northern Rivers.
The strategy would be delivered through the government’s Saving our Species program, integrating koala conservation with work to protect other threatened species and their habitats.
‘Koala conservation requires collective action,’ the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water says on its consultation page.
The department is seeking feedback from communities, landholders, conservation groups, Aboriginal stakeholders and researchers, including on how much detail the implementation plan should contain.
Submissions close at 9am on Monday, November 9, and can be lodged through the department’s draft Koala Conservation Strategy consultation page.
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