In a Victorian first, the City of Ballarat has launched a brochure to help residents maintain and enhance Ballarat’s koala population and the habitat it requires.
‘Your guide to living with koalas’ explains the Koala Overlay and the various things the community can do to help protect koalas and their habitat, as well as encourage more koalas in their neighbourhood.
City of Ballarat Portfolio Councillor for Growth and Development Ben Taylor said the brochure was a wonderful initiative for the city.
“Ballarat is fortunate to be home to a large population of koalas, however as our city’s human population grows and the city’s urban boundary continues to expand, koalas are increasingly under threat.
“The brochure will act as a valuable tool for residents living in and around the Koala Overlay and will assist in understanding what it means to live within the Overlay in terms of removing vegetation, planning approvals, appropriate fences and protecting koalas from dogs.”
A study on the economic contribution of the koala to tourism commissioned by the Australian Koala Foundation as far back as 1997*, suggested koalas made a direct contribution worth $1.1billion to tourism and 9,000 tourism jobs. 1
The study survey found that:
- 67 per cent of respondents said that nature-based activities were quite important or very important to their experience in Australia
- 75 per cent of inbound tourists said that they hoped to see a koala when making the decision to come to Australia, and 70 per cent of departing tourists reported they had seen one
- 11 per cent of the visitors said the absence of unique Australian wildlife would have changed their decision to come to Australia.
The value of koalas for Australian tourism underscores the efforts of conservation groups and communities to preserve and protect the species which is under threat from impacts of disease, stress, habitat loss and urban development in many parts of Australia.1
Residents and owners of properties in the Koala Overlay will be sent a copy of the brochure in the coming weeks.
The brochure will also be available at the Visitor Information Centre, the Town Hall and The Phoenix or can be downloaded or viewed on Council’s website www.ballarat.vic.gov.au
In 2009, in consultation with the Australian Koala Foundation, Council completed a Koala Plan of Management which mapped koala habitat and applied a local control known as the Koala Overlay.
The Koala Overlay applies to areas which have high numbers of koalas including Nerrina, Invermay and Canadian Valley. The Overlay seeks to minimise the impacts of new development on the koala population by guiding and limiting vegetation removal and providing areas for safe movement.