Isabel's Online Journal

^{By Isabel Chalmers}

At first glance, the koala’s dozing in their gum trees at Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park seem untouched by the pressures facing their species in the wild.

Amongst the eucalyptus leaves and sleepy faces, you’ll find dedicated koala carers and volunteers making Moonlit Sanctuary’s Koala Corridor Project into a call for action. Designed to help reconnect scattered koala habitats across Victoria through surveys, research, revegetation, and education, the team’s conservation efforts will continue over the next three years.

The air is thick with eucalyptus as koala carer Lucy prepares fresh branches and speaks about her role as an educator for our native neighbours,

“The koala crew’s main aim at the sanctuary is to provide education and awareness of conservation for our koala population in Victoria through education and also experiences” she says.

With tours led by Lucy, visitors come from near and far to experience what it’s like to walk through a gum tree forest with hushed voices so as not to wake the sleepy koalas, while learning how these changes in habitat protection can make a lasting difference to our furry friends across Victoria.

The Koala Corridor Project works over the whole of the Western Port Biosphere reserve, covering over 2,142 kilometres of large, irregularly shaped land. Through tree planting, school visits and research surveys aimed at addressing the ongoing pressures of habitat loss, disease and reduced fertility, Lucy states this is the kind of work central to the sanctuary’s wider conservation mission and already showing positive results,

“The population surveys such as scat collection and acoustic song meters means we are able to detect our koalas, learn where they want to move and make sure that our revegetation efforts are actually effective” she says.

More information on the Koala Corridor Project can be found through Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park, with daily koala encounters and conservation action shows where visitors can learn where to support or donate to ongoing protection efforts.

^{*All photos provided by Lucy & Moonlit Sanctuary}