Lead Investigator: Associate Professor Uffe Nielsen (WSU)

Co-Investigator: Dr Emma Gorrod (DCCEEW)

Project Summary: Uffe Nielsen and Emma Gorrod are leading a collaborative team developing a program to evaluate the effectiveness of offset and rehabilitation activities associated with the NSW Koala Strategy, specifically to provide insight in early indicators for how long it will take revegetation to become useful habitat to koalas. They will leverage existing investment in koala habitat restoration in South-Western Sydney under the Koala Conservation Program of the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan, which is funded by the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI), but also collect data from older revegetated sites throughout the Cumberland Plain where possible. This research will deliver evidence about how long revegetation will take to become useful habitat for koalas, and whether there are restoration practices that are effective in promoting early use. This will inform best-practice restoration actions for restoring koala habitat and threatened ecological communities on the Cumberland Plain, with applicability to koala restoration in other areas. The project is a collaboration of investigators from Western Sydney University, DCCEEW’s Restoration Science Team and DCCEEW’s Koala Science Team, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure and National Parks and Wildlife Service.