Pockets set aside to help koalas survive - 100 hectares of private land.

This news as reported is appreciated by all of us who understand and value the the natural environment and all the resources and services provided by the functioning ecosystem. The iconic koala is an important creature within the whole sysytem - just as we humans are. 

Six koala refuges will be set aside in southeast Queensland in an effort to boost the marsupial's dwindling population.

Queensland Environment Minister Kate Jones said the state government had partnered with private landholders to protect the 32 hectares. The landowners would be given $174,000 to

plant new koala food trees,

remove weeds and barbed wire fences and

install koala friendly fencing, she said.

'These properties on private land will be voluntarily gazetted as nature refuges with landholders receiving funding to rehabilitate the area,' Ms Jones said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Australian Koala Foundation believes there are as few as 45,000 koalas left.
The group says the iconic animal is struggling to survive due to loss of habitat in fast-growing regions like southeast Queensland.
The six new koala nature refuges announced today bring the total amount of land protected for koalas under these kinds of special arrangements with private landholders to 100 hectares.
Sourced from   Sky News: Pockets set aside to help koalas survive