
Little Oakey is a 553 acre (223 hectare) undeveloped rural property east south east of Crows Nest, in South East Queensland. It was gifted to the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) in late 2019. The property is predominantly vegetated with remnant eucalypt forest and is situated on the eastern catchment side of Perseverance Dam. There are some stunning views out to Lake Perseverance from the higher ridges of the Little Oakey property. Little Oakey was burnt extensively during the 2019/2020 bushfires.
The key objectives of AKF owning and managing this property are:
- To research Koala habitat and Koala populations in order to apply this knowledge to the conservation of the Koala at a national level.
- To research the potentially detrimental effects of fire and other environmental events on Koala habitat and populations.
- To identify significant ecological reactions between Koalas on the property, and other organisms. This could include other fauna, or flora species, or pathogens.
- To provide a refuge for Koalas and other native wildlife in this area, with a view to maintaining landscape connectivity with surrounding remnant areas.
AKF Research at Little Oakey
AKF Ecologist Derek Johnson, heads a research project at Little Oakey about the effects of fire and fire recovery on Koala forests. The first published paper from this ongoing research can be read below.