A rally in the Campbelltown town centre on Saturday was told that there is only one way to prevent koalas from becoming extinct in the wild – by protecting every single koala tree and regenerating habitat until the species has recovered.
Sue Higginson, a NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment, warned that such action might not be enough to save the iconic Australian animals.
“Even if we commit to this and start right now we cannot guarantee that koalas will survive from the current predicament,’’ Ms Higginson told the rally, which attracted around 100 people.
Campblltown Council election Greens candidate Jayden Rivera was among those who marched down to Koshigaya Park from the southern end of Queen Street.
“We are losing our South West Sydney koalas, it’s tragic and our governments are not doing enough to stop it,’’ Ms Higginson said while addressing the rally.
“We are losing them because of habitat loss from development and because they are hit by cars.
“Both Federal and NSW Labor since coming into power have acknowledged the dire trajectory of our South West Sydney koalas yet together they’ve approved the intensification of development and koala habitat loss under the Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan.
“NSW Labor has not pulled back developments that have not yet commenced that will remove koala habitat, they have not insisted on koala corridors in accordance with the recommendations of the chief scientist and they’ve done nothing to stop more koalas from brutal, painful and preventable deaths by car strike,” she said.
“Some of us remain hopeful and believe that we can do it and that’s why we are rallying in the streets, working around the clock and pressuring everyone who has a hand on a lever that can give our koalas a chance.
“Right now the biggest and best levers to turn things around for our koalas are in the hands of our Labor Governments and they’re just not doing enough.”
