{"id":3970,"date":"2026-10-23T23:25:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/in-1994-the-irwins-planted-44000-eucalyptus-trees-for-koalas-a-bet-that-became-a-vast-network-of-australian-reserves\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T23:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T22:25:53","slug":"in-1994-the-irwins-planted-44000-eucalyptus-trees-for-koalas-a-bet-that-became-a-vast-network-of-australian-reserves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/in-1994-the-irwins-planted-44000-eucalyptus-trees-for-koalas-a-bet-that-became-a-vast-network-of-australian-reserves\/","title":{"rendered":"In 1994, the Irwins Planted 44,000 Eucalyptus Trees for Koalas, a Bet That Became a Vast Network of Australian Reserves"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1994, Steve and Terri Irwin bought back an old rural property in Queensland to recreate a koala refuge. Three decades later, Ironbark Station is part of a network of protected areas totaling more than 180,000 hectares. Its history shows how restoring a habitat requires patience, as the species is now listed as endangered.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

In Blackbutt, Ironbark Station covered about 3,500 acres, or 1,416 hectares, and not 3,500 hectares<\/h2>\n

The property lies near Blackbutt, on the foothills of the Cordillera australienne<\/strong>, a few hours\u2019 drive from Brisbane. The figure of 3,500 acres is often circulated in the mistaken form of 3,500 hectares. In reality, the initial area is about 1,416 hectares, a common unit confusion in accounts of this acquisition.<\/p>\n

Read also<\/span> Cette ch\u00e8vre naine pr\u00e9historique \u00e9tait le seul mammif\u00e8re connu \u00e0 sang froid<\/span><\/section>\n

Next, the couple had about 44,000 eucalyptus planted. This choice is not insignificant, because the koala feeds almost exclusively on the leaves of a selection of species of this genus, which also serve as shelter. Subsequently, around 660 more hectares were added to enlarge the property, bringing it to just over 2,000 hectares.<\/p>\n

Koalas in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been endangered since February 2022<\/h2>\n

Since February 12, 2022, koala populations in these three jurisdictions have been listed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act as endangered. They had previously been classified as vulnerable since 2012. According to the Australian Department of Environment, this change in status reflects a clear decline in populations.<\/p>\n

Among the cited causes are habitat loss, vehicle collisions, dog attacks and chlamydiosis. Moreover, droughts and the summer fires of 2019-2020 worsened the situation. Consequently, every parcel of eucalyptus forest preserved or replanted takes on a special value.<\/p>\n

Read also<\/span> L\u2019Ukraine met \u00e0 l\u2019abri 773 \u00e9chantillons de semences au Svalbard, son premier d\u00e9p\u00f4t depuis l\u2019invasion russe de 2022<\/span><\/section>\n

Replanting is not enough, because the connectivity between wooded patches weighs as much as the surface of available forest<\/h2>\n

Studies conducted in the southeast of Queensland, notably by Clive McAlpine\u2019s team at the University of Queensland, have shown the importance of landscape configuration. Thus, the likelihood of encountering koalas depends not only on the amount of forest but also on the fragmentation of woodlands.<\/p>\n

A animal obliged to cross open areas is more exposed to dogs and to traffic. Consequently, linking groves with corridors limits these risky movements. In the field, teams also had to battle invasive plants, which smother young trees and hinder wildlife movement.<\/p>\n

Since Steve Irwin\u2019s death in 2006, the project has merged into a network of more than 180,000 hectares protected<\/h2>\n

Steve Irwin died in September 2006, but the conservation effort continues under the aegis of Australia Zoo<\/strong> and its Wildlife Warriors foundation. In 2007, the foundation thus acquired the Steve Irwin Reserve, at Cape York, which alone covers about 130,000 hectares.<\/p>\n

Read also<\/span> Le b\u0153uf est un m\u00e2le castr\u00e9 et le taureau un reproducteur, mais la viande dite de b\u0153uf vient surtout de vaches en France<\/span><\/section>\n

According to Wildlife Warriors, the network of properties now protects more than 450,000 acres, or more than 180,000 hectares, across Queensland. This network links arid areas of the Brigalow Belt with eucalyptus forests of the Cordillera. Ironbark Station represents only a small fraction, but it remains the first stone of a commitment measured in decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1933,2558,2556,2555,2557,792,2505,1318,370,1555],"class_list":["post-3970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-australian","tag-bet","tag-eucalyptus","tag-irwins","tag-koalas","tag-network","tag-planted","tag-reserves","tag-trees","tag-vast","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3972,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3970\/revisions\/3972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}