Quinnie’s story of habitat restoration on Oakey Creek

NOTE: Quinlans is a property owned by the Australian Koala Foundation. The property was named in honour of Peter and Julanne Quinlan, committed conservationists, who generously bequeathed this property to the Australian Koala Foundation who now manage the land for conservation and education.

I am ‘Quinnie’, the spirit Koala of ‘Quinlans’, where I am the midwife who cares for all the bush creatures that live here.

Recently we heard a group of humans down by our creek, which is a very special place for us. The humans call it Oakey Creek, and it forms part of the Mary River Catchment, which is one of the more significant river systems in the country. They seemed to have lots of equipment with them, and we wondered what they were going to do. We hoped their cheerful chatter meant they were friendly and not going to harm us or our habitat.

We have noticed in the last few years since ‘Koala Woman’ became custodian of the land at Quinlans that we feel safer and that she is looking out for us. Apparently the people on the creek bank got her permission and were there to help, which is a wonderful change! They were from the Mary River Catchment Authority undertaking a riparian recovery project, which made me very happy to see such wisdom emerging based on the understanding of how important such things are. Some of their friends did a lot of hard work removing masses of weeds that cause big problems in the landscape, before replacing them with hundreds of native shrubs and trees.

Koala Photos by Deborah Matters

This project shows how wise and far sighted these people are, as they planted a wide array of species that will provide food and habitat for generations to come, not only for Koalas but also for all my animal and bird friends here at Quinlans. Furthermore, it will stop the banks eroding so animals can go down to the water’s edge in safety. Moreover, it will prevent the loss of the precious topsoil into the creek system where it just clogs things up and makes the water cloudy and hard to survive in for our waterborne friends, the fish, water rats and platypus.

“This is a great example of the synergies that can be achieved when good, wise people collaborate…toward a common goal.”

A really important aspect of the Quinlans story is the great number of people and different groups working together to solve the current habitat problems. At present, Sunshine Coast Council is supporting a related project to work with Quinlans supporters to remove weeds and restore habitat in areas connected to the creek.

This is a great example of the synergies that can be achieved when good, wise people collaborate to work in networks toward a common goal.

Koala Woman has inspired the support of other key people who offer their professional services for free. A key platform of Quinlans’ plan is to be a publicly accessible educational site that exemplifies the principles of the Australian Koala Foundation and promotes landscape restoration and sustainability.

Revegetation and weed control done at ‘Quinlans’ to increase wildlife habitat and reduce creek bank erosion. Photos by Australian Koala Foundation.

I bestow a warm-hearted bush blessing on all who come to help us at Quinlans. We look forward to welcoming other Land for Wildlife members when we host field days or other open property events.

Article by ‘Quinnie’ of Quinlans Land for Wildlife resident Kenilworth, Sunshine Coast

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