Wet Forest EVC – Trees

Acacia dealbata – Silver Wattle

Acacia melanoxylon – Blackwood

Acacia melanoxylon – Blackwood

Eucalyptus cypellocarpa – Mountain Grey-gum – Fruit showing a distinctive ridge line.

Eucalyptus cypellocarpa – Mountain Grey-gum

Eucalyptus cypellocarpa – Mountain Grey-gum (Showing its distinctively ridged buds)

Eucalyptus cypellocarpa – Mountain Grey-gum (Showing off its extra large mature leaves)

Eucalyptus cypellocarpa – Mountain Grey-gum

Eucalyptus globulus – Blue Gum

Eucalyptus obliqua – Messmate Stringybark

Eucalyptus obliqua – Messmate Stringybark (Showing the oblique leaf base that gives the species its name).

Eucalyptus obliqua – Messmate Stringybark

Eucalyptus obliqua – Messmate Stringybark

Eucalyptus regnans – Mountain Ash

Squiggly pattern on the branches of this fallen Mt Ash Branch.

Eucalyptus regnans – Mountain Ash – Have to find branches that have fallen down to get a photo of these giant trees.

Eucalyptus regnans – Mountain Ash

Eucalyptus regnans – Mountain Ash (Tiny narrow buds for such a massive tree)

Eucalyptus regnans – Mountain Ash (showing the “skirt” area where the rough bark at the base is peeling away with smooth bark above.

Eucalyptus viminalis – Manna Gum (Buds and fruit are usually arranged in cluster of three)

Eucalyptus viminalis – Manna Gum (Buds and fruit are usually arranged in cluster of three)

Strzeleki Koala Habitat

Strzelecki Koala

The key to protecting our unique Koala population and ensuring their long term future is to ensure that they have high quality habitat to live in. Koalas need to be able to find regular food and young need to be able to safely disperse to new areas and find breeding partners. The key things that the community can do is to protect existing habitat, this includes controlling weeds such as Blackberries that Koalas are unable to move through. Gullies and Riparian areas are particularly important areas for Koalas, especially in summer, because they are cooler and the leaves there have higher moisture content.  The other thing to do is improve it by extending it and linking it to other suitable habitat nearby.

In the region Hancock Plantations (HVP) manage a large area of Koala habitat. They have strategies in place designed to better understand and protect the Koala populations and are open to working with community members on projects such as Koala habitat linkages. They have been involved in work to map the Koala habitat across the region on the land they manage. Studies have shown locally the preferred trees for Koalas are Mountain Grey Gum (Eucalyptus cypellocarpa), Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus) and Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis), vegetation that is dominated by these species is classed as “Primary Koala Habitat“.

However all indigenous Eucalypt species in this district have been shown to provide Koala food and habitat. Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests as well as Yertchuk (E. consideniana), Messmate (E. obliqua) and Apple Box (Eucalyptus bridgesiana) are classed as “Secondary Species” so are still very important habitat areas.

Narrow Leaf Peppermint (E. radiata/croajingolensis) and Swamp Gum (E. ovata) are classed as supplementary species, and are also known to support Koalas.

Lowland Forest Trees

Eucalyptus consideniana – Yertchuk

Eucalyptus croajingolensis – Gippsland Peppermint

Eucalyptus croajingolensis – Gippsland Peppermint

Eucalyptus polyanthemos – Red Box