The koalas, koala habitat and conservation management in the Clarke-Connors Ranges and associated landscapes: A report to the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads

Recently the Federal Department of the Environment and Energy declared the Eton Range Realignment Project on the Peak downs Highway a controlled action under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 due to the potential for significant impacts on koalas or koala habitat. It was agreed that residual impacts, after Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) impact mitigation, would be offset through two years of research relating to koala ecology and conservation management in the hills and ranges around the highway (https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Projects/Name/E/Eton-Range-Peak-Downs-Highway/Eton-Range-Realignment-Koala-Research-Project). The TMR funded project has facilitated the first systematic study of the koalas and their habitat. This report provides an account of that research within a regional setting, and considers the impacts of the Peak Downs Highway within the context of the broader threatening processes that are acting on these hills, ranges and adjacent lowlands. This includes: (1) a broad account of the landscape and associated vegetation, as well as land uses; (2) a discussion of the current knowledge of the koalas and their habitat; and (3) a consideration of the threats acting on both the koalas and the habitat.