0202410220910

Burnett Koala Program Description: The Burnett Koala Program is a community-led, multi-stakeholder collaborative project focused on understanding and conserving koala populations in the Inland Burnett region of Australia.

The Burnett Koala Program is establishing baseline data on koala population dynamics and health through non-invasive methods.

Key aspects of the program include: DNA testing of koala scats collected by community members; citizen science engagement to record and share koala observations; development of the first large-scale dataset on inland Burnett koalas. The data will enhance understanding of inland Burnett koalas’ population dynamics and health to inform effective conservation and recovery strategies.

The program contributes to the significant CSIRO modelling and Queensland Government mapping efforts in the Burnett region.
STARDIT ID: 0202410220910

Dates

State ongoing
Start 2021-01-31
End 2025-01-31
Form updated 2024-10-29

Report authors

Heather McCulloch
0009-0009-0065-3654

Misty Neilson
misty@betterburnett.com

Location

Burnett, Australia

URL

https://betterburnett.com/burnett-koala-program-establishing-baseline-data-for-koala-populations/

Aims

Better inform sound management practices for koalas and their habitat

Ensure the survival, conservation, and recovery of koala populations in the region

Keywords

Koala

Citizen science

Conservation

Category

management/monitoring

Inputs

organisation

Burnett Catchment Care Association (link)

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Task: Founding organisation and lead

group of individuals

Citizen scientitists

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Task: Documenting and reporting koala observations across the Burnett region | collecting scat samples for non-invasive DNA testing
Compensation: volunteer

funding

(link)

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($196,451)

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Department of Industry, Science and Resources

funding

(link)

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Cash (For project officer wages) ($10,000)

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Burnett Catchment Care Association

funding

(link)

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In-kind (Project management, supervision & governance) ($28,320)

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Burnett Catchment Care Association

Outputs and impacts

dataset (open)

Stage: DNA (Population dynamics, health & feed tree species) data analyse due November 2024

Data

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Impact: Unknown. Data analysis underway.

publication/report/document

Burnett Koala Program: 2021-2022 Report (link)

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Impact: Secured additional funding to develop a baseline dataset of koala population dynamics and health (+ feed tree species) via the DNA testing of scats, non-invasively collected by the community.

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21/22 Project Report

dataset (open)

Observation (Presence/Absence) records

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Findability: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/burnett-koala-program
Impact: Unknown

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87% of all public access observation records over the last 20 years, in the Burnett catchment, collected by citizen scientists from this program