Natural Assets Team Project Updates

PORT TO PLATEAU BIODIVERSITY ALLIANCE

North Coast Local Land Services are supporting the formation of a corridor alliance to manage a vegetation corridor of high conservation value in the Hastings and Macleay catchments.

This corridor will include an altitudinal gradient from sea level to the plateau, in an area identified as a management gap by the Great Eastern Ranges initiative.

Successfully creating a Port to Plateau Alliance will require consultation and collaboration with several organisations, and by partnering with stakeholders, this project will encourage on-ground natural resource management for effective biodiversity conservation.

The Alliance project is at the conception phase and aims to develop the alliance built on the experiences and recommendations of existing organisations.

PROTECTING OUR NORTH COAST KOALAS

North Coast Local Land Services,in collaboration with the Hastings-Macleay Koala Recovery Partnership has started an exciting new program to protect the iconic koalas of our region.

The program will work with landholders to protect and restore key koala habitat on private properties and build community knowledge on the needs of koalas and how to enhance their habitat.

In NSW, the koala is currently listed as 'vulnerable' as a conservation status, with populations under increasing pressure for a variety of reasons.

A growing human population, particularly along Australia’s east coast, has resulted in the fragmentation of quality koala habitat.

Other threats facing koalas, such as drought, fire, disease, vehicle strikes and dog attacks, are further impacting our local koala populations. Creating ‘habitat refuges’ in remote areas resilient to such threats is extremely important for the future of North Coast koala populations.

To achieve this, landholders in key areas are being supported by Local Land Services to manage voluntary conservation areas on their property, with grants provided to manage and protect these areas.

Landholders will have the opportunity to enter into on-going conservation agreements, developed with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust, guided by their experts on private land conservation.

The Maria River area, between Port Macquarie and Kempsey, was selected from more than twenty priority koala habitat areas across the state for the first year of this program.

The south Macleay – north Hastings area contains high-quality koala habitat and a population of koalas that is of state-wide significance.

Participating landholders will be helping to secure this important koala population for future generations.

The program will soon expand to other areas within the North Coast region which contain significant koala populations, with more landholders invited to participate.

Watch our Facebook page or website for updates.

The program is funded through the Australian Government’s Environment Restoration Fund and delivered by North Coast Local Land Services.

For more information please contact your nearest Local Land Service office on 1300 795 299 or via https://www.lls.nsw.gov.au/regions/north-coast/contact-us or email olivia.kemp@lls.nsw.gov.au