NSW koala surveys hopeful news but just the beginning

We are heartened by the results of the recent NSW koala survey and excited to see what improved technology is now making possible.

Advances such as thermal drones and acoustic monitoring allow us to detect koalas far more accurately than ever before, providing a much clearer picture of where koalas are present across the landscape. This is a significant step forward from earlier surveys, which relied heavily on visual sightings and anecdotal evidence at a time when today’s equipment simply didn’t exist.

We are encouraged that these tools are helping to build a stronger evidence base for koala conservation. Importantly, however, population detection is only one part of the story. While numbers are valuable, they don’t fully reflect population health, genetic diversity or long-term resilience.

From our own on-ground monitoring, we know that koalas continue to face serious challenges. Habitat loss, development and fragmentation reduce access to food and limit movement between populations, increasing the risk of inbreeding and poor genetic outcomes. Disease also remains a major concern — in our surveys, more than one third of koalas showed signs of chlamydia and other illnesses, highlighting the pressures many populations are under.

We are optimistic that better data, better technology and growing public awareness will support stronger, more targeted conservation outcomes. These survey results are an important and welcome piece of the puzzle, and we look forward to seeing them used alongside habitat protection, disease management and long-term population health monitoring to secure a future for koalas.