KAG is fully supportive of Redland City Council's (RCC) moves to halt the alarming decline of koalas, the icon of the Redlands and the official Queensland state fauna emblem.

The action taken by RCC is in response to the recently released State Government report "Decline of the Koala Coast Koalas 2008",  which implies that without urgent action, koalas in the Koala Coast region will be extinct in the next couple of years.

Extra funding has been allocated in the Council budget to continue acquiring koala habitat and increase community awareness. Council has requested that the State Government also provide funding to assist with their acquisition program.

Council continue to implement an extensive tree planting program to strengthen corridor linkages and have introduced incentive programs to help protect habitat on private properties.

Other initiatives that KAG believes must be implemented immediately are; upgrade listing of koalas to ‘endangered’, night time  containment of dogs across the city, return of koala speed zones as an interim measure until fauna crossings are in place, greater protection of individual habitat trees in the urban areas by undergrounding power lines etc. and no further expansion of the urban footprint.

Our group shares the Council's concerns about the recent clear felling of koala habitat on State Government owned land at Thornlands and fear that the State Government's pro-development agenda will continue with little regard of the consequences for  koalas and the natural environment.