The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) has announced concerns that Koalas are becoming “functionally extinct” throughout the entire landscape of Australia; which means that the remaining 80,000 Koalas may be “beyond the point of recovery.”
Deborah Tabart OAM, Chairman of the AKF, sent letters to Prime Minister Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, but has not yet received a response yet. AKF is calling on the new Prime Minister to enact the Koala Protection Act (KPA) which was written in 2016.
Since 2010, the AKF has monitored the 128 Federal electorates that fall within the range of the Koala and it is shocking that 41 electorates have no Koalas; they have sadly gone extinct.
“After 31 years I have worked with Ministers Richardson, Kelly, Faulkner, Hill, Kemp, Campbell, Turnbull, Garrett, Burke, Butler, Hunt, Frydenberg, and Price, yet no support for the Koalas has been shown,” Tabart said in a statement. “It is time they enacted the KPA and create change for our Koalas.”
According to AKF, nothing has been written to protect the Koala in the last six years of Government; including a National Recovery Plan which is mandated by law.
The latest Senate Inquiry into Australia’s Faunal Extinction Crisis has proved that the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) is inadequate.
It is time for Australian forests to be protected. The new Australian Government could swiftly put the Koala Protection Act in place.
“Both parties say they want to protect the environment. It would be a great way to start by protecting Koala forests which cover 20% of our continent,” concluded Tabart. “Our tourist icon is ready to leave and zoos are not the answer. Saving their habitat is.”
Information about saving Koala habitat and their population in the wild in each Federal electorate, including ways people can help save them is available HERE!
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