Kirbys Environment Reserve

Managing weeds and restoring native vegetation at key koala habitat in Witta

This project was undertaken as part of the Commonwealth Koala Community Grants opportunity. The objective of the program was to support community-led conservation and recovery efforts to improve the extent, quality and connectivity of the koala, as well as improve data and knowledge of koala populations and health across their range. Kirbys Environmental Reserve is a core koala habitat area and key area of connectivity between Kondalilla National Park and Maleny National Park.

The project aims were to improve outcomes for koalas within the reserve by addressing:

– Restoration and rehabilitation of habitat
– Monitoring and evaluation of pest species and threats
– Monitoring and evaluation of the koala
– Community engagement through education and participation in citizen science

On-ground activities included natural assisted regeneration and weed management, planting of 2,000 trees, thermal drone imaging and detection dog monitoring of koalas and motion sensor monitoring of pest species.

What was involved?

Habitat Restoration

Our team cleared woody weeds to encourage native recruitment & planted 2,000 trees
In total, 50 hectares of koala habitat was restored

Threat & Pest Monitoring

Pests and threats were monitored with 8 strategically placed wildlife trail cameras.

Koala Monitoring

We partnered with UniSC’s Detection Dogs for Conservation to conduct koala scat & presence surveys
We also used thermal drone imaging to detect koalas.

Community Plantings

A community information day and a planting event saw 16 volunteers plant 200 trees, with a 95 percent survival rate and Eucalypts growing up to one meter.