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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, NSW, Victoria and SA.

Awards

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Finalist - Pride of Australia Medal 2010

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Vanda (aka Wanda) Grabowski with Burman.
Photo by Megan Slade

Pride of Australia Finalist Medal 2010,
Environment.

Presented to Vanda (aka Wanda) Grabowski, Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. (now known as Koala Action Inc).

This award was presented by the Sunday Mail and Courier Mail on September 10, 2010.

It was given in acknowledgment of an Australian or group of Australians whose actions prove that by making one degree of difference to their local environment people can make a difference to the broader community.

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Moreton Bay Regional Council Environment Award 2012.

This award was presented to Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. (now known as Koala Action Inc) by Mayor Allan Sutherland, Moreton Bay Regional Council on Australia Day, January 21, 2012 for outstanding environmental activities assisting koalas.

It was given in recognition of the outstanding contributions in koala conservation, replanting and rehabilitation activities and fund raising provided by KAI members.

Without member participation in our events and activities, we would not be able to meet our objectives and ensure the survival of koalas in this region. It was an honour to receive this award on behalf of our volunteers. KAI would also like to acknowledge the contribution provided by local residents at the various sites.

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Vanda (aka Wanda) Grabowski accepting the award on behalf of KAI.

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Maintenance crew.

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Planting.

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Trimming and pruning.

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Raising koala joeys.

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Koala release.

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Weeding.

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On the job

Commonwealth of Australia Dickson Community Award
2004

Awarded to Wanda Grabowski, Koala Action Pine Rivers Inc. (now known as Koala Action Inc.) in recognition of outstanding voluntary environmental service on behalf of the resident koala population and to the local community from 1993 to 2004.

Wanda's contribution included being a carer of sick, injured and orphaned koalas, replanting and rehabilitating koala habitat as well as providing and participating in community awareness campaigns.

Presented by Peter Dutton MP, Federal Member for Dickson on Australia Day, January 26, 2004.

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Vanda and Columbus

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Sponsorship

 

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Professor Peter Timms
University of the Sunshine Coast.

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 ChlamydiaResearch Project.  

KAI’s hard earned funds will support 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 are to develop a vaccine against Chlamydial infection and disease in koalas. This disease is increasingly a cause of admission into wildlife hospitals and is having a devastating impact on the reproductive potential required to insure the sustainability of the koala population.

This will include 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 will communicate progress of the Research Project to KAI on completion as well as periodically during the project which will end 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 not available yet). 

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Maya in action.

The KAI donation was also used to help ascertain the significance of the genetic fingerprint determined from koala scats across time. In this experiment, 270 koala scats were aged up to 35 days and genotyped (DNA fingerprint) then compared with true DNA (from blood).  The results of this experiment will be critical to advance koala research from non-invasive means (i.e. from scats, not blood).   

By using detection dogs and non-invasive techniques to study health and connectivity of koala populations through the landscape management decisions for the long term survival of koalas can be better informed. 

 

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