Redland City Council in southeast Queensland has purchased two hectares of land to be protected as koala habitat. Using funds set aside specifically to acquire land to protect urban koalas, Council will now rehabilitate one of the sites in partnership with BoysTown. BoysTown helps disadvantaged children and young people aged up to 25 years, to connect with the community.
The rehabilitation of the site will be the focus of the Baythorn Project. It will involve cleaning up the site to create a 100 metre wide wildlife corridor and opportunties for open space recreation.
BoysTown will join with Council to apply for project funding from the Australian Government’s Jobs Fund Project, which supports innovative community, environmental and heritage projects that create jobs and build skills.
The BoysTown participants will help rehabilitate the site, and Council will also train them to help undertake a flora and fauna survey of the site.
Redland Mayor Melva Hobson said the land purchase is evidence that Council is serious in its campaign to save the Redland koala.
“Our urban koala population has halved in the past three years, and Council is doing all it can to stop the rapid decline,” Councillor Hobson said. “Purchasing significant environmental land is one of the key ways we can do that, and I’m pleased to see our environmental charge is able to fund such important purchases and projects.
“The Baythorn Project is an excellent joint initiative between Council and BoysTown, offering benefits not just to the koala and the environment, but to the participants, who will learn great skills for the future.”
Once under way, the Baythorn Project will take around 12 months to complete.
This latest land acquisition follows the purchase of 282 hectares in Redland Bay earlier this year, which has enabled Council to protect significant bushland habitat for a number of threatened species, including koalas, powerful owls and the Wallum froglet. It is now part of 822 hectares of protected bushland in Redland Bay.
“We are doing all we can to save our urban koala population, but we can’t do it alone,” Councillor Hobson said. “We need the Queensland Government to support us through its planning measures and with funding for more land purchases.”
