01 December 2008

Initiative to protect koalas launched

The NSW government is leading the way to boost dwindling koala populations, launching the country's first program to protect the national icon.

NSW Environment Minister Carmel Tebbutt said a state-wide survey conducted by the Department of Education and Climate Change indicated the number of koalas had dropped over the last 20 years.

The exact number of koalas was hard to pinpoint, but Ms Tebbutt estimated between 1,000 and 10,000 across NSW.

She said the $1.23 million recovery plan would entail about 50 different measures over the next five years, including revegetating koala habitats and targeting threats to the animal like dogs and fires.

"The recovery is aimed at strengthening the koala population (and) sustaining its viability," she told reporters at Taronga Zoo in Sydney on Sunday.

The NSW government is taking action now before it's too late, Ms Tebbutt said.

"We know that if we take these conservation methods now, we're in a much better place than trying to recover the koala from the brink of extinction."

A Report by The Mole

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