To celebrate Threatened Species Day on 7 September 2015, the Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project team will be holding a free information night at the Empire Cinemas in Bowral.
The information night will feature speakers from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and Wingecarribee Shire Council. The evening will also feature a fascinating short documentary about the project, produced by local filmmaker Suzannah Cowley.
The Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project is a joint partnership program between the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, the University of Sydney, the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife and Wingecarribee Shire Council who all play a vital role in ensuring the Southern Highlands koala population remains abundant.
Mayor Gair said the project was established after the 2013 Yerrinbool-Balmoral fires wiped out significant numbers of the local koala population and forced surviving numbers to move further afield.
“The fire caused massive chaos for the local koala population,” the Mayor said. “It forced them from their natural habitat and in some cases they even took up shelter in residential backyards!”
“It became apparent that an action plan was needed to ensure the survival of our local koala population.”
Stage One of the project commenced in April this year and involved a field survey to locate koala habitats in the region. Stage Two, which is currently underway, involves satellite-tracking the koalas.
“The overall goals of the project are to learn how many koalas we have in our Shire, where they live, how they move about and the routes they take,” the Mayor added.
Council’s contribution towards the project is funded via the Environment Levy.
The Koala Information Night will be held at the Empire Cinemas in Bowral at 7pm on Monday 7 September.
Tickets to the event are free and can be picked up from the Empire Cinema, 327 Bong Bong St Bowral.
For more information visit www.facebook.com/SouthernHighlandsKoalas or www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/koalas.