A MOBILE app allowing people to report koala sightings was among the ideas raised at a roundtable discussion to ensure the survival of these much-loved animals.
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That would help with data collection and involve the community too.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Council met on Wednesday with key stakeholders including Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, threatened species commissioner Gregory Andrews, Cowper MP Luke Hartsuyker and state agency representatives to discuss the long-term viability of our koala population.
The talks were billed as instrumental in determining the most appropriate actions for koala conservation in the Port Macquarie-Hastings.
Recent data suggests the koala population may be in the early stages of decline.
Threatened species commissioner Gregory Andrews said the thing he was most excited about was that the mayor Peter Besseling and Port Macquarie Koala Hospital supervisor Cheyne Flanagan were acting now.
He said Port Macquarie’s koalas were some of the most genetically robust in Australia.
“Koalas are probably Australia’s most loved marsupial,” he said.
Mr Andrews said he was proud of Port Macquarie because hosting the roundtable was a way of saying you loved the koala enough to do something before it was too late.
Ideas raised included exclusion fencing on the Pacific Highway south of the doughnut and the potential for koala crossings, identifying and prioritising hot spots and for the council to complete its koala strategy.
Lisa Tisdell
I'm a Port Macquarie News journalist, keen traveller, angler and cricket fan.
I'm a Port Macquarie News journalist, keen traveller, angler and cricket fan.
