Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation Group
Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation seeks to encourage and assist landholders to protect and enhance existing vegetation and raise awareness of the challenges koalas face to ensure we maintain a healthy population on the Mornington Peninsula. Together, we can protect the peninsula’s koala population by restoring and enhancing existing vegetation and connecting remaining koala habitats.
The Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation started in May 2019 with the local community realising the importance of preserving the local koala population from the threat of development. Our main goal is to create a koala wildlife corridor connecting existing sections of koala habitat and food trees on the Mornington Peninsula to help keep koalas out of urban areas and away from the many threats they face.
We work closely with the Mornington Peninsula Shire, Parks Victoria, other Landcare groups and private landholders to improve koala habitat.
How you can help
- PRESERVE & PLANT NATIVE TREES – Protect and plant koala food trees
- REPORT KOALA SIGHTINGS – Notify us of any koala sightings via Facebook, email or our Koala Sightings page.
- BE ALERT WHEN DRIVING – Koalas are hard to see on the road so drive slowly whenever you are driving through koala habitat. Scan the roadsides for koalas (and other wildlife) and keep the number of a local wildlife rescue group with you in the car or on your mobile phone in case you find an injured koala or other native animal.
- KEEP YOUR DOG UNDER CONTROL (especially at night) – Most koala attacks occur at night, so limiting your dog’s movements at this time will help to reduce any likelihood of it chasing or catching a koala. If possible, keep your dog inside or in an enclosed area at night and check your yard before leaving your dog unsupervised.
- WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY FENCING – If a fence is necessary, build a koala friendly fence. A koala friendly fence is one that koalas can easily climb over, through, or under, allowing them to move freely around their habitat. The most common types of koala friendly fencing include post and rails and post and wire (no barbed wire).
Trees for Koalas on the Mornington Peninsula
Coastal Manna Gums (Eucalyptus viminalis subsp. pryoriana) are a favourite food tree of koalas. Coast Manna Gums are medium sized, fast-growing, excellent shade trees which provide food and habitat for birds, sugar gliders, possums and caterpillars, as well as koalas.
If you have damp areas, you can plant Swamp Gums (Eucalyptus ovata), which are small to medium-sized trees found in wet areas which also provide important food for nectar-feeding birds in winter.
Other eucalypts of value to our local koalas are:
Narrow-leafed Peppermint Gum (Eucalyptus radiata)
Messmate Stringybark (Eucalyptus obliqua)
Silver-leafed Stringybark (Eucalyptus cephalocarpa)
Snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora) – Mt Martha/Moorooduc region only
The most important thing is to check which Eucalypts are suitable for your area by referring to the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s Koala Tree Area Map. The coloured areas on the map below show where one or more of the above trees is suitable for planting. The only areas not suitable for koala tree planting are the Nepean Peninsula and some coastal areas (the white areas). A list of local Indigenous nurseries can be found at our Revegetation Page.
New members welcome!
Joining is easy, simply register online via our MP Koalas Website, or by clicking on the ‘Get Involved’ button to the right of this page. Alternatively, you can download and return our Membership Brochure.
We can be contacted at:
Email: mpkoalatreeplanting@outlook.com
Telephone: Dirk 0422 522 622
or Mary 0424 664 463
Like us on Facebook: @Mornington-Peninsula-Koala-Conservation
Follow us on Instagram: #mp_koalas
