Rescue corridors created for koalas in Australia

Zoo defenders together with WWF are planting trees and fighting for the lives of marsupials

In Australia, special corridors have been created for koalas. They help preserve the population of “cute” ones. marsupials The trees are being planted near rivers in a state hardest hit by fires and deforestation. The total number of animals left without homes is about 3 billion. «Green corridors» should help scientists preserve such a species of marsupial as koalas.

Photo: Global Look Press

Lucy the koala was rescued in New South Wales in 2021. During this time, she was cured of chlamydia, a disease widespread among koalas. Now she is one of the residents of the “green corridor”. New South Wales is the first Australian state to commit to protecting the marsupial by preserving its rapidly declining habitat, Reuters reports.

Extensive areas of vegetation planted by local conservation group Bangalow Koalas in the state's Northern Rivers region. They are called a lifeline for koalas and many other species such as the endangered glossy black cockatoo, gliders, possums and wallabies.

The idea behind such corridors is that they provide safe passage through increasingly fragmented koala habitat, increasing genetic diversity and protecting the animals from human threats.

“Our corridors are actually trying to keep them away from people , from cars, from dogs,” said Linda Sparrow, head of the Bangalow Koalas organization. She added that “here they can move around safely and do not have to put up with us.”

The koala is predicted to disappear from the wild in New South Wales by 2050, with bushfires, habitat loss from logging and land clearing for development being some of the biggest threats. Koalas have already been declared a critically endangered species in several Australian states.

Founded in 2019, Bangalow Koalas has planted more than 336,000 trees across 119 locations, contributing to koala conservation and strengthening the local ecosystem. The group, which relies on local volunteers, aims to plant 500,000 trees by 2025.

“The neighbor will want to join, and then the other neighbor will want to join. It's like a domino effect where people all over the North Shore want to join our corridor,” Sparrow shares about how people are getting involved in animal rescue.

Volunteer Lindy Stacker, who has been planting trees for over five years years, says that this activity is “better than meditation, better than yoga,” and unites the community.

“And this action not only makes you feel great, but also unites people and also informs them about the problem,” the volunteer told the Reuters news agency.

In a recent report from the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF), researchers learned that the iconic marsupial is worth an estimated $3.2 billion a year to the tourism industry.

However, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Australia has reported an alarming decline Koala populations have declined by 50% in Queensland and 62% in New South Wales since 2001. After fires in 2021, marsupials were on the verge of extinction.

“I can't imagine a world where there are no koalas in the wild. We're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen,” said Linda Sparrow.

The site where the first corridor was created used to be a dairy farm. EcoCrew member Sally Kennedy explains: “At one time, all the land here was forested. But we were lucky. Of the 220 acres we own, only 70 acres have been cleared. I think that by planting these additional trees we will help a variety of animals living closer to the coast to return to the interior and the state forest.»

The Koala Corridors project is part of an ambitious plan by the World Wildlife Fund Nature Australia to implement a program that will grow and save two billion trees by 2030.

WWF Australia Head of Healthy Lands and Seascapes Tim Cronin shares project plans and says that “we want again linking these pristine areas of the country together to allow for greater movement of wildlife across the landscape.”