Koala Alliance Victoria is a working group of organisations and individuals involved with koala welfare in Victoria, with a mission to to improve the conservation and protection of koalas in Victoria.
Founders of the alliance are:
Koala Clancy Foundation Contact: Janine Duffy, President president@koalaclancyfoundation.org.au 0427 808 747 MAIN MEDIA CONTACT
Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation & Conservation Contact: Jessica Robertson, President
Friends of Alberton West Contact: Melinda Darer, Secretary
Mel & the Menagerie Contact: Melinda Darer, Wildlife Carer
Supporters:
Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation Contact: Belinda Eden, Vice President
Koala Awareness Project with the Western Port Biosphere Reserve Foundation. Contact: Kelly Smith
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We welcome other groups interested in the protection of Victorian koalas to become supporters of the alliance. Please email Janine.
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The organising committee is Mel Darer, Jessica Robertson and Janine Duffy.
Melinda Darer:
Mel is secretary of Friends of Alberton West, secretary of the Victorian Forest Alliance and president of Mel & the menagerie. She’s a vet nurse of 15yrs, wildlife carer 20yrs. Environmental & LGBTQI activist. Originally from the Hunter Valley NSW, she moved to Melbourne in 2005. She has lived in naarm (Melbourne), East Gippsland & now resides in the Strzelecki Ranges in South Gippsland. In her spare time she enjoys horse riding, bushwalks, spending time with family & a nice glass of cider.
Jessica Robertson:
Jessica is an experienced wildlife advocate, wildlife rescuer and carer and President of Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (BWRAC). Jessica has been a tireless advocate for koalas in the Ballarat region, collecting data and leading campaigns that raise awareness about the dwindling local populations and expose koala welfare issues in blue gum plantations. Jessica was trained as a filmmaker and media artist and now works as an educational designer in the University sector.
Janine Duffy:
Janine is a conservationist, koala field researcher, inspirational speaker and passionate advocate for koalas.
In 1998, Janine discovered a method of identifying individual koalas by their noses. From this discovery a wild Koala Research Project was born – mapping the home ranges, social interactions, tree use and following the lives of over 100 individual koalas over 25 years in the You Yangs and Brisbane Ranges National Parks in south-eastern Australia. Her research was used for a University of Sydney publication: An insight into natural koala drinking behaviour; and her photo of one of her favourite koalas was the August 2020 cover of the international science journal Ethology.
Janine started the not for profit charity Koala Clancy Foundation in 2015. The foundation removes weeds, plants trees, advocates and educates locals about wild koalas. To date Koala Clancy Foundation have planted over 95,800 koala trees, and removed over 3.2 million invasive weeds. She is the foundation’s delegate on the National Koala Recovery Team.
Janine proposed and administers Wild Koala Day, on May 3 – a national day to celebrate wild koalas and protect their habitats.
