SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – Koalas in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) could become extinct by 2050 unless the government immediately intervenes to protect the creature and its habitat, revealed the report of a year-long parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday.
Over several decades, clearing of land for farming, urban devleopment, mining has resulted in the fragmentation and loss of habitat for the animals in NSW.
The drought-fuelled bushfire earlier this year also devastated the animals, destroying a quarter of their habitat across the state, and in some parts up to 81%.
“The evidence could not be more stark,” the 311-page report says. “The only way our children’s grandchildren will see a koala in the wild in NSW will be if the government acts upon the committee’s recommendations.”
The report was commissioned by a multi-party parliamentary committee and it came out with 42 recommendations, including an urgent census, prioritising the protection of the animal in the planning of urban development, and increasing funding for conservation.
The report, however, stopped short of unanimously recommending a moratorium on logging in public native forests, it said.
Stuart Blanch, manager of land clearing and restoration at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia urged the government to heed the recommendations.
“WWF calls on the NSW Premier to rewrite weak land clearing laws to protect koala habitat, greatly increase funding for farmers who actively conserve trees where koalas live, and a transition out of logging koala forests and into plantations.” Blanch said in a statement.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Tuesday said the government had already made investments into preserving the animals.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field