Better managing fires and their impacts for koala conservation

Pablo Jose Negret; Daniel Lunney; Jonathan Rhodes

doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.21643.62246

The NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub Project 8.4.5, Better managing fires and their impacts for koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) conservation, was a 6-month collaboration to develop a framework for fire management for koalas to ensure koala persistence and recovery in the fire prone landscape in which they occur. The project aimed to assist with identifying appropriate fire management and response strategies in priority areas to inform the National Koala Recovery Plan and Queensland and New South Wales koala conservation strategies. NESP TSR Hub Project 8.4.5 has developed a Conceptual model on the effect of the different fire management strategies and alternative post fire actions (including rehabilitation, release and habitat restoration) on koala habitat quality and population dynamics. In order to achieve national koala population recovery and long term persistence in fire prone ecosystems there is the need for guidelines to inform fire management. To support this, the framework includes recommendations and priority actions to inform fire management strategies that support koala persistence and recovery. This includes recommendations and actions to maintain appropriate fire regimes and habitat characteristics that are important for koalas. Fire is an inherent property of Australian landscapes, which has influenced the country’s ecosystems. Understanding what controls the occurrence and severity of wildfire and how to manage fire for maintenance of biodiversity is then crucial for conservation and for human wellbeing. Particularly, in the case of koalas, fire can affect the species habitat quality, as well as directly impact the population numbers through individual mortalities. This research takes a multiscale approach to conservation that includes a decision support diagram that aims to help identify the management actions that can be taken before during and after fire to support koalas long term persistence in fire prone landscapes. This framework takes into account key principles grouped in six components (Maintenance of koala habitat status, maintenance of koala population status, maintenance of appropriate fire regimes, consistency with cultural values, consistency with land use and management objectives and post fire management), that interact with fire management in order to identify management options that could be taken in a fire management context in order to achieve koala habitat and population persistence in the long term.

Better managing fires and their impacts for koala conservation

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