Little River, August 2024 – Koala Clancy Foundation are thrilled to announce they’ve planted their 150,000th tree – halfway to their goal of 300,000 koala trees by 2030, and a year ahead of schedule!
Twenty years ago, the You Yangs were a koala haven. For Janine Duffy, spotting up to five of these adorable animals was a normal day. Today, the sobering reality is that they’ve completely vanished from some areas. This local extinction is a painful reminder of the urgent need for action.
In 2020 Koala Clancy Foundation set an ambitious goal: Plant 300,000 koala trees by 2030.
After running some numbers, Duffy realised that they needed to plant 300,000 trees by 2030 to give the koalas of the You Yangs a fighting chance.
Why 300,000 trees? Read about our calculations, and the urgency here.
“At that stage, we were only planting 3000 trees a year,” Duffy explains, “we would have to increase our planting rate by 10 times, and we’d have to do it every year for a decade.”
“That goal seemed insurmountable,” she said. “But the alternative was unthinkable.”
What followed came as a pleasant surprise.
“Once we’d announced our target: 300,000 koala trees by 2030, the community support was incredible,” she said.
“We’ve been approached by international environmental NGOs like the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), large corporations like ANL Shipping (CMA CGM), Bupa Foundation, Beyond The Valley Music Festival, Powercor and Toyota, travel companies all over the world including Downunder Endeavours, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Hidden Secrets Tours, Tourism Australia, Melbourne Water and City of Greater Geelong, to be part of the mission. Artists including Koala Cuddles Australia, The Changesmiths and Corey’s Creations, and sports clubs like Melbourne United Basketball all got involved, some donating a percentage of sales, or pledging a target – Melbourne United & their sponsor Trojan Tools pledged to plant a tree for every three-pointer scored. Note: This list is not exhaustive, there are many, many others – too many to name in one article. Koala Clancy Foundation are grateful to all supporters.
Over 1741 community volunteers, including 26 corporate teams, have rolled up their sleeves to plant trees alongside the Koala Clancy Foundation team. Some are into their third year of planting – NTT Data and Bar Clara, and are now seeing large trees as a result of their efforts.
The Koala Clancy member community jumped in boots and all, some giving their time every second weekend to plant trees, helping write for grants, and/or devising brilliant schemes to fundraise. Member Les cycled 160km in a day for koalas!
A growing network of landowners are embracing the mission by transforming their properties into koala habitats. Their commitment is essential to creating connected ecosystems for these beloved creatures.
Every tree planted brings us closer to a future where koalas survive climate change. One day they may even thrive again. This is a legacy for generations to come.
As they move into the second half of the enormous target to plant 300,000 trees, support is more crucial than ever – Koala Clancy’s work is only possible with continued funding. Every $10 donated plants one tree. Click here to donate today.
