[opelayday]

What is the importance of Koalas in the ecosystem??

You could also ask what is the importance of humans in the ecosystem. Oh that's right, we are the top predator and rapidly killing off everything through our out of control dominance ... We need a top predator of our own to control us ... sadly that won't be the Koala.

This post came about whilst listening to the ABC local radio, the news brief said they were putting Koalas on the endangered list in certain states...

They (in this case the feds) have put the animals on the threatened species list, classified as 'vulnerable' in NSW and Qld. The difference in threat level is significant and important to understand.

In practical terms this is likely to appease the Koala people and result in precisely no action by the feds because of the way the act is written. The EPCS looks for "significant harm" to an "important population".

The details is where things will get interesting. How an "important population" is defined and how that definition is interpreted.

Until a draft National Recovery Plan is written a lot of that stuff is likely to be up in the air.

Burke was rabbiting on about Developers having to watch out but realistically, the chance of any single development meeting the threshold for action is next to nothing unfortunately.

The Koala people need to go for listing in NSW because the criteria for action here under Threatened Species Conservation Act is extinction of a local population. That would be a lot easier to meet.

and so, she grumbles off ...