Tell Australian Environment Minister To Save Koalas

Koalas are vanishing from Australia. With fewer than 100,000 left on the continent, koalas have one of the highest extinction rates in the world.

Their diminishing numbers are attributed to a number of causes, including mining, logging, coal-seam-gas exploration, and broad-scale land clearance. In each of these cases, politicians have turned a blind eye as developers threaten the long-term survival of koalas.

After three unsuccessful attempts to classify koalas as a nationally protected species, a Senate inquiry into the status, health, and sustainability of Australia's koala population now provides a wealth of information about the impact of development on koala habitats. 

If federal Environment Minister Tony Burke lists the koala as a protected species, any development that will have an impact on the animals will need federal approval. Yet, Burke has been reluctant to make a decision, even though he was expected to do so in October 2011. 

Act now to tell Burke to list the koala as a nationally threatened species under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.