Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (BWRAC) has launched its 2026 Citizen Science Project, developed to map our local koala population and their corridor of movement through intel from our community.  

Supported by a Community Grant from the City of Ballarat, the project is the first step in a much larger conservation effort to protect our koala population and restore their habitats.  

Current BWRAC Ballarat Koala research has demonstrated that koalas in our region are under threat from habitat loss, vehicle strikes, dog attacks and disease. The 2024 National Vegetation Information System (NVIS), used to model koala habitats indicates less than 35% of the corridors between Ballarat, Clunes and Daylesford, Warrenheip to Buninyong and Linton to Meredith remain suitable for koalas to thrive, and most are located on privately-owned land.   

The Citizen Science Project is calling for landholders and members of the public to register their interest in gathering and sharing vital information during 2026 to improve the underlying data of koalas and their known habitats in our region. The information that we collect will help to inform future projects and ensure that we target energy and funding into the right locations. 

Participation is voluntary, and the data we collect includes; What did you hear? What did you see? Where did you see it? For more information about the project, refer to the flyer attached or our website. 

Register your interest to participate here: Koala Mapping Citizen Science Expression of Interest