Much more than only a few years ago thanks to the Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project.

The end of the project’s first part is in sight with a new fine-scale vegetation map of Wingecarribee Shire showing koala habitat and corridors due in the first half of 2017.

The maps will help plan the future of the Highlands, at local and regional levels, to ensure development can continue without jeopardising the future of koalas in the area.

The project was established in 2014 after a devastating wildfire burnt over 15,000 hectares of bushland in northeast Wingecarribee Shire.

Within days, Wingecarribee Shire Council received reports of koalas wandering into backyards and being hit on Hume Highway.

Council’s Environment and Sustainability team alerted the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).

It was soon apparent that very little was known about koalas in the Southern Highlands.

Sharing a common goal to deliver accurate information on koala populations and habitat, Council and OEH quickly formed a strong partnership.

The conservation project has been led by OEH Illawarra Senior Threatened Species Officer Kylie Madden along with Wingecarribee Shire Council Environmental Projects Officer, Joe Stammers. 

Other staff and community volunteers played a critical role in what has become a major project for both organisations.

Council commissioned the first component of the project – a pilot study that included a five-day survey and habitat assessment by wildlife ecologist George Madani.

The subsequent report laid the foundation for council’s initial actions, including the installation of six road signs at known koala hotspots.

Aside from alerting residents to the presence of koalas, the signs have a phone number for a new council-run, 24-hour Koala Hotline.

There is also a Facebook page to keep Highlands residents up to date on the project and give them a further way to report koala sightings.

More than 170 new koala sightings have been added to a council-managed database which is periodically uploaded to the OEH BioNet.

The University of Sydney was invited as another partner to help a satellite tracking project assessing disease and genetic status, tree preferences and corridor use. 

The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife raised $35,000 in donations from residents for this part of the project.

Interest in the project then gathered further pace with a significant injection of funds through the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program.

This enabled the purchase and deployment of additional koala tracking collars and delivered a boost to the spotlighting team, led by OEH Threatened Species Officer Lachlan Wilmott.

University of Sydney Masters student Dympna Cullen contributed by undertaking a project on koala tree preferences in the Highlands.

Joe Stammers will talk about the project at the next Robertson Environment Protection Society (REPS) meeting.

The meeting will be held on Friday, February 10 at 7.30pm at the Robertson Community Centre, Caalong St Robertson.