Wild Koala Day is on 3rd May
A koala walks into a store in Australia...
Do you love Koalas?
Enter...The 3rd May is Wild Koala Day. It’s an opportunity to celebrate koalas and to protect their habitat, which is rapidly vanishing. Within 10 years, the koala has gone from no listing to endangered - and that's a terrible plummeting of numbers. The day is organised by a number of koala charities and you can see who they are here.
#wildkoaladay
Check out events taking place here.
Koalas need forests. A koala can’t eat money – they need forests. And the koala lovers and conservationists who founded Wild Koala Day are calling on three groups of people to stop their rot.
- Developers, they say: find land elsewhere to build on such as old industrial land and mining land, or renovate old housing developments.
- Miners: mine sites must be rehabilitated after the mining companies have finished with them – this is law. But it almost never happens.
- Politicans and planners seem to be more intent on siding with developers and miners.
Wildfires are also destroying koala habitat because of our changing climate – firefighters with many years experience say they have never experienced such intensity and ferocity in the fires they are fighting. And koalas, along with a whole host of other wildlife, are really suffering death and injury because of them.
Once land is gone and built on, it’s gone.
So what can you do to help?
Three things you can do to help koalas:
1. Protect a forest
Join or donate a group that is protecting a forest. Now, there's a list of them here in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and International.
Koalas need forest to survive and thrive
Image © The Koala Clancy Foundation
2. Plant a tree, or register to plant a tree
As the koalas say, "without a tree, there is no me." You could also find out if there are any tree planting events you can volunteer with. Or why not donate a tree as a gift for a koala lover?
3. Pick up the phone and phone a politician
Tell politicians why you care about koalas and that they matter to you. And you could call your local council to ask what their policy is on protecting forests.
Koalas don’t have a voice in political affairs but we all do, so it’s up to us to use it and make our voices heard on the koalas’ behalf.
Plus you could also volunteer -
A number of koala charities need volunteers and you can find out who they are here.
Introducing the Koala Alliance Victoria!
The Koala Clancy Foundation is launching the Koala Alliance Victoria. It’s a a network of organisations and individuals involved with koala welfare in Victoria, Australia. The mission is to improve the conservation and protection of koalas there. Please subscribe here.
You don't have to live in Australia to help - these days there are plenty of ways to make a difference from a distance. In fact, there's an International section with links to a couple of Facebook groups, one of which is called the Koalition. As they say, united we stand!
There's also a group called International Koala Intervention - visit them here
#wildkoaladay
Visit Wild Koala Day's website here
Don't forget to spread the word! #wildkoaladay