Protect Endangered Koalas!


On 8 April 2022, the Queensland Government followed the lead of the Commonwealth Government and declared the koala endangered within Queensland. This is a heart-breaking but necessary act for this iconic Australian animal. 

The Queensland Conservation Council is calling on the Government to make the koala the official mascot of the 2032 Olympics, as a symbolic indication of their commitment to restore and rejuvenate koala populations by 2032. 

But, more importantly, we are calling on the Government to take four concrete steps as a matter of urgency: 

  1. Close loopholes in the Vegetation Management Act (VMA) that allow clearing of koala habitat
  2. Expand and extend the South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy to rehabilitate and restore more koala habitat and not just in SEQ. 
  3. Increase funding to the Protected Areas Strategy in order to establish and manage new National Parks on land where koalas live. 
  4. Strengthen environmental laws that were weakened under the Newman Government that prevent the Department of Environment and Science from denying approval of projects that could destroy koala habitat.

Join us in calling on the Government to make these tangible actions to protect koalas by signing this petition! 

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256 Signatures

Will you sign?

Dear Minister Scanlon,

It is heartbreaking that the koala has had to be reclassified as endangered in Queensland. But, it is also a wake-up call that something must be done and must be done now. We can't stand by and let this iconic Australian species die out. 

When the world comes for the Olympics in 2032, they will be expecting to see this special creature in the wild as they take side trips throughout our wonderful State. How will they judge us if the only koalas left are those in captivity? We must do something now.

I join the Queensland Conservation Council in calling on the Queensland Government to make the koala the official mascot of the 2032 Olympics as an indication of your commitment to restore and rejuvenate koala populations by 2032.

However, we need more than symbolic gestures, so we further call on you and the Palaszczuk Government to: 

  • Close loopholes in the Vegetation Management Act (VMA) that allow clearing of koala habitat;
  • Expand and extend the South East Queensland Koala Conservation Strategy to rehabilitate and restore more koala habitat and not just in SEQ;
  • Increase funding to the Protected Areas Strategy in order to establish and manage new National Parks on land where koalas live; and 
  • Strengthen environmental laws that were weakened under the Newman Government that prevent the Department of Environment and Science from denying approval of projects that could destroy koala habitat.

We can save the Koala and other threatened species, but we must act now, follow the advice of conservation scientists, and protect their habitats from the destruction that drives extinctions.