Combining citizen observations with technical information to monitor koala populations in Victoria’s Moorabool region
The National Koala Monitoring Program supports a partnership between Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group, Wadawarrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC), and CSIRO to share and gain knowledge of the status of koalas in the Wadawarrung area in Victoria. This partnership has brought together Aboriginal, community and science collaborators to share and build knowledge about koala population status and trends in the region.
A co-design workshop has been conducted to plan monitoring surveys using potential koala habitat maps prepared by CSIRO. Participants have shared local knowledge of koala presence and absence to produce a collaborative map of potential koala populations in the Moorabool area.
The NKMP team have trained interested community groups and Wadawarrung rangers to use transect monitoring approaches, observe koalas in trees and identify scratch marks in trees and scats on the ground at the base of trees.
The Moorabool Catchment Landcare Group and the WTOAC are now involved in choosing accessible survey points that are important to estimate and monitor local and national population of koalas.
