Habitat is more than a map: Australia plans corridor park for Koalas

New South Wales: Australia’s new Great Koala National Park, planned for New South Wales, is meant to link fragmented eucalyptus forests along the east coast to give koalas a better chance to disperse, feed, and breed. The park would also protect habitat used by dozens of other threatened native species, reports contributor Johan Augustin for Mongabay.

The case for the park rests on a practical point: koalas need more than scattered trees. They need connected habitat that can support populations over time.

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) have declined as forests have been cleared, divided by roads and development, and exposed to hotter, more severe fires. A patch of forest can look useful on a map while being too isolated to sustain a local population. For koalas, which depend on particular eucalypt species, movement between forest remnants can determine whether a local population persists.

Conservationists have welcomed the proposal, while warning that logging pressure, development, land-use loopholes, and weak enforcement could limit its effect. A park declared on paper still depends on decisions made on the ground.