Australia: Authorities buy 2,000 hectares of bushland – to protect koalas

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Baby koala with its mother (2020): Critically Endangered Marsupials

Photo: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

To better protect koalas and other rare animals, the New South Wales government wants to integrate another 2,000 hectares of bushland into national parks on Australia's east coast.

To this end, the authorities have bought three areas in Monaro in the south of the region, near Yamba in the north and near Taree in the east, Australian news agency AAP reported.

"Securing koala habitat is part of our strategy to double the koala population by 2050," said the region's environment minister, James Griffin.

"In addition to the koalas, these national park expansions will protect an incredible variety of endangered species."

In February, the Australian government officially raised the endangered status of koalas from “vulnerable” to “endangered” in the states of New South Wales and Queensland as well as in the Australian Capital Territory with the capital Canberra.

This allows the authorities to better protect the marsupials.

Persistent droughts, bushfires, disease and habitat loss have led to a sharp decline in koala numbers over the past 20 years, it said.

In particular, the massive bush fires from August 2019 to March 2020 hit the cute marsupials hard.

According to estimates by the environmental organization WWF, more than 60,000 of the koalas that are only native to Australia were killed, injured, displaced or traumatized.

Images of animals with singed fur and burned paws went around the world.

The government plans to spend 50 million Australian dollars (about 31 million euros) over the next four years to protect the animals.

wit/dpa