Koalas at risk for extinction due to deforestation, human activity

Global wildlife populations have fallen by 60 percent since 1970, and koalas are declining at an even faster rate.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released the Living Planet Report 2018 on Tuesday, Oct. 30, which reveals the decline in worldwide species. The report is a comprehensive study of the health of the planet and the impacts of humans on nature.

The report indicates that global populations have declined by 60 percent on average in just over 40 years, a rate of 13.6 percent per decade. Meanwhile, koalas in eastern Australia are declining at a rate of 21 percent per decade.

WWF-Australia estimates there are less than 20,000 koalas left in New South Wales (NSW). At the current rate, koalas are on track to be extinct in the state by 2050, WWF-Australia conservationist Dr. Stuart Blanch said.

The shrinking koala number is largely explained by deforestation and fragmentation, as Eastern Australia is named as one of the 11 global deforestation fronts. Australia is the only developed country on the list.

Clearing for livestock is listed as the primary cause of Eastern Australia’s forest loss with unsustainable logging as a secondary cause.

Koalas have very specific dietary requirements, relying almost exclusively on eucalyptus tree leaves for food and water.

“When those trees are cleared, koalas are killed when the trees fall down or when they are crushed by bulldozers,” Blanch said.

They also die when they are forced onto the ground to find new habitat, because they become vulnerable to attacks by dogs and collisions with vehicles.

They also become stressed, and thus become more susceptible to contracting diseases like Chlamydia.

Satellite imagery shows a massive spike in the destruction of NSW koala forests, with the rate of tree clearing tripling in the state’s north since the axing of the NSW Native Vegetation Act in August 2017.

The removal of laws protecting koala forests led to the bulldozing of more than 5,000 hectares of koala habitat in the NSW districts of Moree and Collarenebri at a rate of about 14 football fields a day, a report by WWF-Australia and the NSW Nature Conservation Council found.

The Moree-Collarenebri region is already extensively cleared, with only 6 percent of the study area has forest remaining.

The report was released on Friday, Sept. 7, which is National Threatened Species Day. The koala is designated as vulnerable to extinction under commonwealth and state law.

“We are releasing this report on National Threatened Species Day to highlight that the destruction of koala habitat is accelerating in NSW and to call on the government to urgently strengthen the laws to ensure koalas and other threatened native animals are given the protections they need,” Blanch said.

The report’s satellite imagery analysis confirms the dire predictions of the government’s own advisors, who warned the new laws would permit bulldozing of 99 percent of all identified koala habitat on private land in the state, Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said in the press release.

“The NSW Government is responsible for opening the floodgates to the destruction of koala forests and woodlands on a scale we have not seen for more than 20 years,” Smolski said. “This report looks at a fraction of the state, so we fear this spike in deforestation in the north is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The plight of koalas is matched by alarming declines for many other uniquely Australian species who are losing their forest homes, WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said in the WWF press release.

The habitat for approximately 247 native species may have been destroyed in 2017-18, including habitat for nine species of National Environmental Significance.

“It is a wakeup call for our east coast to appear alongside notorious forest destruction hotspots such as the Amazon, Congo Basin, Sumatra and Borneo,” O’Gorman said.

O’Gorman said in the press release that the NSW government needs to reverse its recent axing of laws due to its impact on koalas.

“Buying land is welcome but will only save a fraction of koala habitat – stronger forest protection laws are crucial,” O’Gorman said.

The report concludes that repeal of the NSW Native Vegetation Act in August 2017 was likely the major reason behind the dramatic surge in forest and woodland destruction in this known clearing hotspot.

In order to protect these endangered species, the government must pass stronger laws to protect trees, as trees provide a home to koalas and other endangered species, Blanch said.

“We have to stop this excessive tree-clearing if we want to keep koalas alive in the wild for future generations,” Blanch said.

There needs to be much larger networks of protected areas to provide sanctuaries for koalas.

“The world must also rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions as koalas are already becoming extinct in the hotter and drier inland parts of the state. Koalas are retreating towards the coast and uplands to escape climate change impacts,” Blanch said.

WWF-Australia and the Nature Conservation Council have launched petitions to call on both sides of government to take action to protect koalas in NSW for future generations.

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