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Friends of the Koalas holds a
koala Habitat Day on the first Saturday of every month. Members meet in
prearranged locations, often in the Oswin Roberts Reserve, which is
part of the Phillip Island Nature Park, to plant trees, remove weeds,
and perform other activities in order to restore and protect habitat.
Non-members are most welcome to participate - phone (03) 5952 2407 for
details.
Phillip Island Wildlife Corridor
Friends of the Koalas financially supports the efforts of other local organisations to protect and restore habitat, e.g. Phillip Island Landcare's efforts to establish a wildlife corridor on privately owned farms.
Friends of the Koalas and other local organisations have worked together to establish the Barb Martin Bush Bank in order to produce indigenous plants from seed collected on Phillip Island. These plants will be used in local revegetation projects.
Habitat Gift Fund and Silver Spade Day
Friends of the Koalas is registered by the Department of Environment as an environmental organisation and is eligible to receive tax deductible donations. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible.
If you support the Habitat Gift Fund with a donation of $100 or more, you will be invited to plant a memorial tree on our Silver Spade Day, which is held in November each year. The donor's name is engraved on a plaque at the entrance of the Phillip Island Nature Park's Koala Conservation Centre, placed in our Habitat Book, and recorded on our Silver Spade Donors page to permanently acknowledge the donation.
All donations to the Habitat Gift Fund are used strictly for habitat activities.
Friends of the Koalas and the Phillip Island Nature Park jointly operate a koala rescue service called Koala Watch. Friends of the Koalas also maintains a record of all koala sightings on Phillip Island, including details of the health of each koala reported.
Friends of the
Koalas actively supports the Koala Conservation Centre, which was
established in 1992. The centre aims to provide a protected population
of koalas on Phillip Island and to assist the conservation of, and
research into, the species. The centre is now part of the Phillip
Island Nature Park and is open to visitors. Visitors can observe koalas
while strolling through a natural bush setting, including a
close-viewing area with a tree-top boardwalk. For the health of the
koalas, handling is not permitted. (Koalas are extremely vulnerable to
stress.) The centre also includes a large plantation of koala food
trees.
Friends of the Koalas members assist in a monthly koala count at the centre, during which each individual is identified. This is necessary because koalas, particularly young males seeking refuge from the dominant male, sometimes escape from the centre (despite its koala-proof fences).
Working to Prevent Koala Road Deaths
Friends of the Koalas works to reduce the high incidence of koala road deaths on Phillip Island. Members were pleased with the recent decision by VicRoads to finally lower the speed limit along the Cowes/Rhyll Road and Ventnor Road (near the Ventnor Koala Reserve) to 80 km/h. This is wonderful news for both wildlife and people on stretches of road that should never have been 100km/h zones.
Koala photograph on this page © Nance Haxton
Site last updated Spring 2011. © Friends of the Koalas