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English Version in a nutshell:

In the wake of the latest legislative developments here in NSW; the devastation of the bushfires and my experiences as a volunteer for a Koala Rescue Organisation, I decided I have to try and do more to help Koalas. By protecting Koalas, other threatened native species can be protected too, as Koalas can act as an umbrella species.

Australians and citizens from all over the world donated millions of dollars during the bushfires, believing everything will be done to protect Australian nature and wildlife in the future. And while there are many organisations trying to do exactly that, they won't succeed without the support of the governments. And herein lies the problem!

Australia has very weak environmental protection laws as it is and state governments have a lot of freedom in their decision making. Currently, the NSW government is discussing changes to a bill and a policy, that would have drastic negative impacts on Koalas: The Koala State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) and the Local Land Services Amendment (Misc) Bill 2020. 

Goals:

1. The most urgent goal has to be, to stop those amended versions of the Koala-SEPP and the Local Land Services Amendment (Misc) Bill 2020 from being implemented. There isn't much time to do this!
2. The next goal has to be, to request the implementation of stricter and clearer environmental protection laws by the federal government, with state governments having to follow suit!

More goals are addressed in my detailed text below.

 

DETAILED VERSION:

A plea for the native species in Australia

I am German. I am an Australian permanent resident. I appreciate and love the Australian wildlife. It is unique, with many species being endemic and sadly, in grave danger.

Why? Because its federal government doesn't treasure it the way it should. And I don't understand that at all. The beautiful nature is Australia’s biggest drawing point. Tourists come here to see Koalas, Kangaroos, Gliders, Wombats and many more…because they can’t be seen anywhere else in the world, as they don’t exist anywhere else in the world. That alone should be a reason to make sure they are safe. And if that is not enough, just think of the revenue for the country and all the people that depend on income from pristine nature and wildlife. 

But no…they are anything BUT safe mainly due to human activity. Many species are endangered and will go extinct sooner or later, but most likely sooner. And until then, many of them will suffer because of us and what we are doing to their habitat and the stress we are putting them under.

Millions of people - Australians and people from all over the planet - donated millions of dollars during the devastating 2019/2020 bushfire season. They did this, because they wanted to make sure that everything and I mean EVERYTHING is being done to help treating and rehabilitating injured wildlife, to regenerate and reforest burned land and to protect Australian wildlife in the future. And while nature and wildlife organisations all around Australia are trying extremely hard to do all this, without the support of the federal and national governments, they are fighting against windmills.

Let me show you the disappointing reality for the country’s most iconic species - the Koala.

I have volunteered countless hours at a Koala rescue and rehabilitation organisation in the past 7 months and I would dare to say, I gathered enough knowledge to enable me to show you, how things are going for them. 

To sum it up - they are not going well! And the reason for this are the federal and state governments. 

Many high-ranking politicians say, they want to help and support Australia’s wildlife. Matt Kean, the NSW Minister for Environment, says he wants to double the number of Koalas by 2050. Gladys Berejiklian, the Premier of NSW is seen in pictures posing with Koalas, pretending to care. But words ands pictures are easily said and taken. It’s the actions that count. And those actions are proving the total opposite.

The threats that Koalas are faced with are man-made, the biggest one being habitat loss.

Others include disease, dog attacks, car hits and cow attacks. Human disturbance in general puts a lot of stress on them, which can easily lead to the onset of disease. They may not look it, but they are very fragile and once they are sick or hurt, they are probably one of the most difficult animals to treat in the world.

Let’s start with the Disease that riddles most of the populations - Chlamydia. The origins of it are thought to have come from livestock - so indirectly they are man-made too. It really wreaks havoc especially in Northern Koala populations. While survival chances for males look relatively good, if rescued early enough; it doesn't look good for females at all. Once infected the disease seems to affect the reproductive tract of females quickly - they then often develop cysts, which is their death sentence. But there is hope - after years of research, there are vaccines, that have been developed and after all I have read about them, the results are very good. Now, one would think: Great, let’s vaccinate the Koalas, that have been rescued and treated, before they go back to the wild; let’s vaccinate joeys, that have been hand-raised with sweat and tears, before they get released…let’s finally get a grip on this horrible disease! 

But NO…the bureaucracy and competition is mind-numbing and preventing most organisations, that rescue Koalas, from being able to access the vaccines. And it isn’t just paperwork - instead of states working together, helping each other, they act against each other. Only because that vaccine is developed in one state and is potentially still classified as being tested, the other state is preventing it from being given in their state.

I mean seriously! What have we got to lose? The tests show, that it is working and we are losing those Koalas at an alarming rate, so it cannot wait years for an official agency to decide its approval or for two states to solve their quarrels with each other. I know, I am simplifying procedures here, but that’s pretty much the essence of it.

Let’s move on to Habitat Loss. Australia has a really bad track record when it comes to clearing land. Forests have to give way to housing estates, malls, livestock and such, but they are also logged for timber and wood chips to be exported to China and Co. This is, for obvious reasons, bad for native wildlife, but also for the country. According to a relatively new and discussed theory, forest cover helps spreading moisture; and cutting even just localised parts of it has the potential to turn an area from wet to dry (forests as rainmakers and wind makers - the Biotic Pump by Makarieva and Gorshkov), which makes a lot of sense looking at what’s happening in Australia - more and more droughts and the inland gets drier and hotter.

For the sake of BOTH wildlife and humans, this can’t keep happening. Existing forests need to be protected, reforestation on a big scale is needed. Let’s build smaller houses and reuse run-down spaces, so we don’t have to cut more trees for housing. Let’s communicate to people, that they don't need meat 7 days a week and to supermarkets, that it is ok, not to always have huge amounts of meat stocked only to throw the leftovers away at the end of the day. This could reduce the numbers of livestock taking up vast amounts of space as well as meat wastage.

I will combine the next threats into one: Habitat loss and fragmentation forces Koalas to come down from their trees and walk - sometimes long - distances on the ground to the next tree. On the way they encounter roads with cars, dogs, cows etc. Many of those encounters end deadly for the Koala. There are options to protect Koalas better from those threats. Councils could put up more and better road signs and speeds could be limited in highly frequented areas especially during breeding and dispersion season and be enforced by police patrols mainly at night, when Koalas are most active. If it would mean arriving at your destination 10 minutes later, but having saved precious native wildlife (not just Koalas), wouldn’t it be worth it?

Then there are the dogs. It surely feels like 90% of backyards have one or more dogs in them. This in itself is fine, but in my personal opinion, I would opt for a rule that prohibits owning a dog, when you live in Koala habitat. But as I know, this will never happen, I believe councils should at least inform every new house owner, that lives in Koala habitat, about that fact, as well as having a rule, that dogs cannot be outside at night and when no one is at home. I believe that asking a house owner, whose house is on Koala Land, to obey this, isn't exactly hard or difficult.

Many of you probably own a dog, that you love. I am also sure, that you wouldn’t want it to attack a Koala…so please, I appeal to you, the Australians - if you live in a Koala area, make sure that your dogs are inside at night or when you are not at home - not free in the backyard and also not on a leash in the backyard…unfortunately Koalas have no choice, but to cross backyards to get to their trees, because it was their land, before your house was build and all their trees were cleared.

As if all those threats aren't enough yet, here comes the biggest threat yet - the Australian Federal and State Governments! The laws for environmental protection are not good enough as it is, but they are going to be weakened even more. We all know about the importance to protect the natural world as it provides us with what we need to survive, yet hardly anyone seems to be willing to make little sacrifices to help. The New South Wales State Government seems  - to me - to be the worst offender, when it comes to further weakening the already weak laws to protect nature and animals. 

Two examples: The Koala State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) and the NSW Government’s Local Land Services Amendment Misc) Bill 2020. The changes to both of those will remove existing protection (little as it is) and further facilitate excessive and inappropriate land clearing! You can find out more details here: https://www.edo.org.au/publication/local-land-services-amendment-miscellaneous-bill-2020-summary-of-key-concerns/

These are just two prime examples to show you, that despite the devastating effect the bushfires had on Australia’s nature, the governments are not willing to do what’s necessary to protect it. On the contrary they are allowing more of it to be destroyed in the future. 

Australia is among the 11 worst countries for deforestation, but what is even worse than that, is, that Australia is the the only developed country out of those 11! On top of that, it also has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world! How very sad and disappointing for a nation like that!

Goals:

We have to stop the implementation of the above named policy and bill. Instead of weakening the environmental protection laws even more, we need pressure from the in- and outside to convince the federal government to implement stricter laws, which will then be the baseline for the State Governments. 

The Australian government needs pressure from the outside, we won’t make it alone and need help from all over the world!

Get rules in place for dog owners in Koala areas. Make sure people KNOW they live in an area where there are Koalas.

Reduce bureaucracy for organisations to be allowed to vaccinate Koalas. This process needs to be simplified, so that vaccinations can finally be rolled out in all the states and protect Koalas from disease.

Show the Australian government, that Australians and the citizens of the whole world have NOT donated all this money to watch Australia’s nature and natives die a painful death! Put pressure on them, so they remember, that democracy means, people actually have a voice, that has to be heard and considered!