Petition to Help Save Koalas from Extinction | IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare

urge the New South Wales Government of Australia to classify koalas as endangered

The catastrophic bushfires in 2020 killed over 6,000 koalas in the Australian state of New South Wales. Join IFAW in calling on the Government to take emergency action to protect koalas and their habitat. We cannot let this iconic species go extinct on our watch.

Environment Minister

Hon. Matt

Kean MP

NSW Legislative Assembly

I am writing to ask you to put emergency measures in place to protect New South Wales’s surviving koalas and their habitat.

The catastrophic bushfires have now burned more than five million hectares of land, much of which is prime koala habitat supporting high-density populations.

An IFAW-commissioned report by Biolink research group has assessed the impact of the fires on the state’s koala population and the facts are impossible to ignore.

State-wide, more than 6,382 koalas have perished, almost 15% of the population. In three generations, we’ve lost as much as 62% of the population. The fires have all but destroyed many regionally-significant koala populations.

Koalas were living on a knife edge before the fires, with numbers plummeting and local extinctions occurring due to excessive land-clearing, drought, stress-related disease, car strikes and dog attacks. This disaster could push them over the edge.

This is an emergency and it calls for an emergency response. We cannot let this iconic species go extinct on our watch.

I am calling on you to enact emergency measures to allow the species the breathing space it needs to recover.

This includes implementing an immediate emergency up-listing from Vulnerable to Endangered and a moratorium on logging and clearing of koala habitat across the state. The government must ensure sufficient remaining native habitat is maintained as an emergency refuge for koalas and other wildlife and ecological processes.

It is an appropriate and justified precautionary response to this disaster that a hold is put on any harmful activities impacting koalas and their habitat, including native forest logging and land-clearing for development.

With fire intensity and frequency only likely to increase due to climate change, these populations may not have the chance to recover.

The world is watching. Failure to act would be reckless and irresponsible. Please don’t let this iconic species go extinct on your watch. Their future is in your hands.

Yours Sincerely,

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urge the New South Wales Government of Australia to classify koalas as endangered

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