Today, for National Threatened Species Day, Konica Minolta celebrates the small role we can play in protecting our national icon. Through employee’s contributions to workplace giving, a Landcare project to help save koalas in Port Macquarie has been awarded a grant of $10,000.
More than five hectares of badly needed bushland habitat for the koala will be restored, closing gaps in critical green corridors and helping koalas live and move safely in suburbia.
More than 82 koala deaths are recorded annually east of the Pacific Highway from road strike, dog attacks and disease. The population is unsustainable and at risk of becoming locally extinct within 30 years, so work like this is vital.
Estelle is one of the volunteer members of Port Macquarie Landcare Group who will be working on this project funded by Konica Minolta. She lives and breathes Landcare, and knows how important funding for projects like this is.
“These koalas would starve to death. Thanks to urban growth, the koalas don’t have enough trees to survive, so their numbers have been declining in the area. We need to act now, as it takes over four years for these trees to grow, and our koalas cannot wait that long to eat. They are starving. If our volunteers can restore the ecosystems, the koalas will be taken care of,” she explained.
Konica Minolta’s contribution will help ensure the Port Macquarie koalas have food, shelter and safety of movement.
Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world. With support from Workplace Giving partners, Landcare Australia recently distributed $100,000 to projects just like the Port Macquarie koala project, that will help improve and restore habitat for our threatened species, including the king parrot, southern cassowary, and the coastal emu.
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