Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00555:body:0:p34
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00555
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 116902–120076

organisations

Carer refreshing water for a Koala in care. Image: © Marta Yebra.

9. National Koala Monitoring Program
Adaptive monitoring and subsequent management will underpin effective conservation of the listed Koala. Adaptive management is a structured, iterative approach to decision making that incorporates formal learning processes (both technical and social) into conservation actions to improve their effectiveness in the face of uncertainties (Williams and Brown 2014). An adaptive management framework for the listed Koala will be developed.
Measurement of performance against the three national objectives, and by implication the effectiveness of actions at local scales, requires monitoring of Koala populations in a statistically robust manner. Monitoring Koala populations is essential to document existing conditions, detect trends and increase predictive capacity and to understand the local threats and drivers of decline or recovery. To meet this end a National Koala Monitoring Program is being implemented and co-designed in partnership with CSIRO and in consultation with states and territory governments, local governments, natural resource management organisations, Indigenous Australians, community and industry groups, and researchers. Monitoring will be conducted across the entire species' range (Action 1d and e).
Queensland Murray-Darling Rangers undertaking surveys for the Koala as part of the National Koala Monitoring Program. Image: © CSIRO and QMD Catchment Limited.
The National Koala Monitoring Program is intended to complement and augment existing state and territory monitoring and reporting programs, targeting spatial and temporal information gaps. The key objective of the monitoring program is to connect with, and build on, existing Koala monitoring efforts and implement a long-lasting program to assess and respond to changes in Koala population size, health and condition across their distribution. It will:
    * deliver a robust estimate of Australia's Koala population
    * provide a baseline on numbers, health and condition for Koalas from which the effectiveness of conservation actions and investments can be measured
    * support future assessments of Koala threats and conservation status
    * support strategic Koala conservation and monitoring
    * collate existing data and identify knowledge and monitoring gaps for further assessment
    * investigate how new tools and technologies can support Koala monitoring.
This program includes the Koala populations of Victoria and South Australia. The states and territory have established or ad-hoc Koala monitoring programs of varying size and effort (in space and time), based on a range of methods and tailored to reflect each jurisdiction's needs and questions.
The design, analysis and synthesis of the National Koala Monitoring Program will account for strengths, weaknesses and biases of the many survey methods commonly used. A Community of Practice in Survey Methods (Action 1h) will be developed as a guide to assist stakeholders conducting field-based Koala assessment activities, e.g. consultants, researchers and citizen science groups in employing