Koala group back on radar

A move to install a so-called koala committee - a strand to the council's koala plan which was much lauded at its 2006 launch - looks to be back on the table.

The committee was not installed at the time and eventually fell off the radar. However, environmental advocates from the Friends of Canadian Corridor (FoCC) have put the prospect back on the radar, raising the possibility in several council meetings since 2019.

The move has been confirmed in minutes recently published for last month's council meeting, which included another question from FoCC president Bob Hartmann, chasing an update on the committee.

He said: "We are concerned that there are a number of operational problems to do with the local koala population that are sadly being neglected."

The council officer response was published in minutes last week. It confirmed that the Living Corridors project - a broad-ranging exercise aiming at offering continuity and protection for Ballarat's natural areas - had been delayed.

This was partly due to resourcing, Ballarat's director of development and growth Natalie Robertson said.

However, the minutes report Ms Robertson was happy to initiate the koala committee.

She also said the council had employed a consultant to look at the koala overlay and help understanding of the marsupials' movements in the area.

The delay of the Living Corridors project has come as a disappointment to environmental groups in the city, including the Friends of Canadian Corridor.

Its aims were to protect the continuity of natural areas and the connections between them.

Council officers said in August last year that the city's koala management plan would be assessed as part of the Living Corridors work.

In March 2020, council officers had stated the koala committee would be started up.

Several councillors said they wished to participate.

The declining number of the iconic marsupial in the local area has been the subject of several anecdotal reports recently.

Citizen science projects have indicated there are just a handful of the marsupials left in wilderness areas surrounding Ballarat.

Recently Louise Jory - a researcher from the University of Melbourne - has begun work in the area to give some more scientific weight to the figures.

Working in Woowookarung Regional Park, Ms Jory said she hoped the project would allow the health of the population in the area to be better understood.

Among the threats faced by local koalas are habitat loss, cars and dog attacks.

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