Incorporating habitat mapping into practical koala conservation on privatelands

Identifying and conserving faunal habitat on private lands has been conduct ed largely on a site-by-site basis as development proposals arise. We sough t to map koala habitat at a scale suitable for use by a local planning auth ority so that habitat remnants could be protected and managed while remaini ng in private ownership. At this scale, the level of detail and accuracy ne eded by local planners required a new approach to mapping koala habitat. Tw o independent techniques, community and field surveys, were employed. We ma iled a survey to every household in Coffs Harbour shire. Respondents told o f 3309 koala sightings. We conducted a field survey, a plot-based scat (fec al pellet) search, to determine which vegetation types and tree species wer e preferred by koalas. We surveyed 119 sites, which contained 42 different vegetation types. Of these, 37 (31%) had been used by koalas. The outcomes of the community and field surveys were combined to produce a distribution map of koala habitat. The most striking outcome has been the use of our res ults by the local government authority, Coffs Harbour City Council: planner s have incorporated the koala habitat map into their local environmental pl an. Our procedure offers a rigorous, repeatable, and publicly accessible me thod for identifying and mapping important habitat for the purpose of land- use planning, an essential procedure for conserving habitat outside the res erve system.