Ensuring Thriving Koala Populations in Southern Queensland

 Receive Financial Incentives and Support to Protect Koala Populations Using Cool Burning, Pest Animal Control and Koala Bridges

Koalas in western Queensland are known to be under threat from reduced connectivity between habitats necessary to their survival. During droughts in semi-arid regions, koalas rely on moisture-rich eucalypt species like river red gums and Coolabah found in riparian habitats. During a wet year, koalas move into surrounding woodland habitats and diversify their diets with poplar box and ironbark. This project will apply ‘cool’ fire to koala habitat areas to maintain the health of forests and key species of koala foraging trees. As the landscape dries out, koalas must move back to the river channel to access preferred Eucalyptus leaves of a quality that will sustain them. This movement through the landscape is high risk for koalas due to current threats that this

project will aim to address.



This project will support landholders across six known koala priority population locations to identify and implement appropriate actions that sustain thriving koala populations including Quilpie, Upper Bulloo, Upper Warrego, Adavale, Eulo and Lavelle.


Outcomes and activities will cover:

• Ecological burning to ensure healthy forests of koala food trees and sufficient recruitment of these trees to support future generations of koalas

• Pest animal control (particularly wild dogs) to reduce predation pressure on koala’s while most vulnerable – moving to new foraging/breeding areas

• Remove invasive cactus species (tiger pear, coral cactus, harissa cactus) from koala habitat to prevent injury or impediment to safe and swift movement

• Install koala ‘bridges’ over wild dog exclusion fences to support koala movement through the landscape

• Define the genetic relatedness of koala populations in the priority areas to baseline change over time


Image 1. Protecting koala populations in Western Qld.     Image 2. Invasive cactus cause injury to koala's.     Image 3. Wild dogs are a huge problem for koala's when moving about.

This project will focus on supporting koala movement through the landscape by removing three key threats. The first threat is being preyed on by wild dogs. The second is infection and death from cactus spines. The final threat is exclusion fences that pose a physical barrier to movement. The key long-term measure for successfully addressing these threats is change in genetic relatedness of populations. This project will baseline the level of relationship between koala populations in priority areas to allow long-term (10 years and beyond) success monitoring. Threats will be addressed at priority areas in the region, as determined by a combination of local expert knowledge, public datasets and data from prior Southern QLD Landscapes projects.


This project offers support to climate threat management actions of the South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy 2020-2025. One of these actions highlights the need for Queensland-specific climate projections to guide long-term koala conservation. Our regional stakeholders would like to see this data applied alongside genetic data on koala populations. The theory being that survival of QLD koalas, in the face of predicted weather extremes, is reliant on retaining the highest possible genetic diversity. We will be collecting eDNA samples and providing analysis of population relatedness both within and beyond the project area through collaboration with other community-based koala projects. Such analysis will add value to future investment decisions related to securing the future of the koala in the wild.


In summary, this project is a priority for our region and Queensland because it aims at:

• Improving koala habitat quality through the application of ‘cool’ fire to support the health of koala foraging tree species.

• Supporting koala’s seasonal movement needs by lowering predation pressure, reducing cactus spread and installing ‘koala bridges’ over exclusion fences in koala habitat.

• Alignment with both the regional NRM Plan and the SEQ Koala Conservation Strategy.

• Maintaining the social license for the production of agricultural commodities in koala habitat areas.

Get Involved!

If your property contains Brigalow, Coolibah-Black Box or Poplar Box Grassy Woodlands within our priority areas (see map below), please complete our Expression of Interest Form. You may be eligible for financial incentives and support to implement sustainable practices on-farm, that directly benefit these threatened vegetation habitats and the species that rely on them.


A series of free information days and workshops will be held in the priority areas throughout 2025 and 2026. We encourage you to attend, share strategies to tackle land management challenges, and engage with specialist speakers. Follow us on social media, including Eventbrite, and become a member of Southern Queensland Landscapes to stay updated on upcoming workshops.


This project is being delivered in areas of the Southern Brigalow Belt throughout 2024 -2026. It is a $1.7 million dollar investment from the Australian Government through the Saving Native Species Program.







Landholders are encouraged to register their interest via the form below.

This project is funded by the Australian Government under Saving Native Species and delivered by Southern Queensland Landscapes, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners Panel.