This week I was interviewed by  The Senior , following Monday’s address at the International Congress for Conservation Biologists (ICCB). Speaking in front of 1500 of the world’s best conservation biologists, urging the new environment minister Murray Watt to implement the Koala Protection Act.

After almost 40 years of fighting to protect our Koalas, I have a dire warning: if we don’t start doing things differently, they may soon go the way of the Tasmanian Tiger.

Over the past 30 years with the Australian Koala Foundation, I’ve watched koala habitats decline. We have developed a world-first mapping system that covers 1.5 million square kilometeres of the continent.

I believe there are only about 100,000 koalas left in the wild today, a tiny fraction of the animals that were shot for the fur trade from 1890-1927. At the height of the fur trade, 8 million koala skins were sent to London and New York. Some scientific papers estimate the number of animals shot was double that.

It’s a shocking part of our history that many Australians don’t know.

In the wake of such a shocking massacre there should be a firm commitment from the governmant to protect the habitats of the animals that remain. However, after decades of campaigning, the politicians still aren’t getting the message. Our maps show that urban and industrial development continues to impinge on the natural habitat of koalas.

Why aren’t our governments looking at those maps? Why aren’t they seeing how they could still allow industry to develop in places where the biodiversity could still be protected?I just do not think that there is political will to save the koala, and I think the injustice of that makes me stay in my job.

Please take a moment to read this article,  it explains why I’m still fighting, and why we need urgent action now more than ever.

Read the full article here

Thanks as always for the support we/I receive from you.

Kindest regards
Deborah