Planting hope for local koalas

KOALAS along the Barwon River are gaining vital refuge from a warming climate, with a local conservation group planting thousands of trees to restore the river corridors the species increasingly relies on for survival.

The Koala Clancy Foundation has planted more than 185,000 trees along waterways including the Barwon, Moorabool and Little rivers since it was established in 2015.

Founder Janine Duffy, who has worked with koalas since 1992, said the organisation was created to address a shortage of high-quality habitat in the region.

Koala Clancy aim to plant 300,000 trees by 2030 and are already more than halfway to that target. Photo: Nyah Barnes.

“One thing that I found was that [koalas] really required is high-quality habitat beside rivers in our region,” she said. “No one was doing it, so we started to do it.”

With climate change intensifying heatwaves and drought, Duffy said river corridors would become increasingly important for the species.

“Seven days of heat can effectively kill koalas,” she said. “More heatwaves, more droughts … will pretty much wipe out koalas.

The Koala Clancy team are dedicated to restoring koala habitats in the You Yang, Barwon River and surrounding regions. Photo: Nyah Barnes.

“Rivers are going to become the only places koalas can get through summers.”

The foundation works with private landholders and volunteer planting teams to restore native vegetation along waterways.

Among them are Stonehaven landowners Heike and Mark Dunn, who have hosted revegetation projects on their property for several years.

There is a mutual appreciation between the Dunns and the volunteers who help with the planting.

Heike (pictured) and Mark Dunn’s Stonehaven property has been used in Koala Clancy planting days for many years, their farm-dog Poppy (pictured) enjoys meeting the volunteers. Photo: Nyah Barnes.

“People really appreciate being able to come [to our property],” Heike said. “[The volunteers] come and thank us for letting them plant trees here, and we’re like, thank you for planting here.”

The benefits are already becoming evident. At one revegetated site near Lethbridge, koala activity tripled within a year of planting.

The foundation is aiming to plant 300,000 trees by 2030 and is calling on volunteers to help reach that target through a series of winter planting days.

Community planting events will be held in Fyansford on Saturday 14 June and Maude on 21 June.

To get involved, head to the Koala Clancy Foundation website.