saveeumundi.org

Dear Mr Editor,

I would like to introduce myself and make you aware of sad news for the Southeast of Queensland. I am a spanish medical doctor who emigrated to Australia from the UK 10 years ago. I settled in the hinterland of Noosa, a famous tourist seatown north of Brisbane. Its national park is famous for the sightings of Koalas. Unfortunately this might not be the case within the next year or so, caused by the rapid decline of the Koala population in the last 10 years. A new report from the Environment Protection Agency is predicting the possible extinction of the Koala if it continues to decline at the same rate that has done in the last 3 years. There are viruses and Chlamydia affecting the Koala. This is having a great toll in their numbers, but the main cause of the drop is reckless development destroying Koala Habitat authorized by the government .

I will give you an example. There is a proposed project running through the hinterland of Noosa for new high voltage Powerlines. This project will be clearing Koala habitat with one of the healthiest populations of the Southeast. The need for this project is very questionable, as there are clean alternatives as Solar thermal. With the worsening of climate change this should be a priority. Unfortunately, the Queensland Government is turning a blind eye to this, with the purpose to enable the running of air conditioners 3 days a year in the hot summer days. Being on the Sunshine Coast, it seems ironic that countries like Austria, have  more solar power systems than Australia. I do not think this is an important matter for Australians only, but for the whole world as the future of this unique animal (the 4th most recognizable animal in the world) is on the line, and could disappear within the next couple of years. Please visit: www.savethekoala.com or www.saveeumundi.org

Thanks for your time.

Dr Carlos Sanchez Caballo

PS Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to have some more information