Awards and Sponsorship
Over the years KAI and some of its members have been recognised by local and state government authorities as well as private enterprises for the efforts they have made to ensure the survival of koalas in South East Queensland. We have provided financial assistance and supported the establishment of other like minded groups such as Moreton Bay Eco Alliance (MBEA), Queensland Koala Crusaders (QKC) and are founding members of the National Koala Alliance (NKA), made up of koala stake holders in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Awards
Pride of Australia Finalist Medal 2010, Environment.
Presented to Vanda (aka Wanda) Grabowski, Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. (now known as Koala Action Inc).
Moreton Bay Regional Council Environment Award 2012
This award was presented to Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. (now known as Koala Action Inc)
Commonwealth of Australia Dickson Community Award 2004
Awarded to Wanda Grabowski, Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. (now known as Koala Action Inc.)
Sponsorship
Financial Support
Koala Action Inc. (KAI) provided the University of the Sunshine Coast with $10,000 in April 2015 to support the “Development of a vaccine to protect koalas against Chlamydia” Research Project.
KAI’s hard earned funds supported the Research Project undertaken by Sharon Nyari (Doctoral candidate) under the supervision of Professor Peter Timms and Associate Professor Adam Polkinghorne.
The aims of the Research Project were to develop a vaccine against Chlamydia infection and disease in koalas. This disease is increasingly a cause of admission into wildlife hospitals and is having a devastating impact on the affecting the sustainability of the koala population.
This included evaluating a new version of the vaccine, a single dose format, to vaccinate koalas presenting to koala care centres or hospitals in South East Queensland.
The University of the Sunshine Coast communicated progress of the Research Project throughout the project which ended on 30th December 2016.
University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) Detection Dogs For Conservation
KAI donated $5,000 which was used to deliver koala field surveys across the shires of Fraser Coast (Pir’ri Reserve, Pulgul Creek Easement, Harvey Bay Botanical Gardens, Teddington Reserve), Noosa (Girraween Koala Offset, Settlers Cove), and Sunshine Coast (Curramore, Kiels Mountain, Buderim).
Surveys involved searching for signs of koalas (scats) with a koala scats detection dog. This was proven to be approximately 20 times faster and 150% more efficient than human surveyors. The dog found scats where humans missed them. Koala presence was confirmed at all sites except the Pulgul Creek Easement and Harvey Bay Botanical Gardens.
Samples of koala scats were taken to the University laboratory to perform genetic and Chlamydia analyses (results available upon request).
