Coomba Bay landholders connect koala habitat

In 2024, landholders Melanie Ledgett and Matthew Bannerman turned 75 per cent of their 40.5 ha property into a conservation area protected with the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust.  

The protected land has created a valuable corridor of mixed eucalypt tall forest, extending the protected ridgeline of the adjoining national park and connecting the landscape for native wildlife, including a population of local koalas.

“Plants and animals don’t recognise boundaries, and our property now contributes to landscape-scale connectivity,” Melanie said.  

“Private land protection is crucial especially for species, like koalas, which rely on connected habitat.”  

The forest reflects a long history of disturbance and recovery. Extensively logged in the late nineteenth and early 20th Centuries, the property last experienced broad‑scale logging 50 to 60 years ago.

“Our forest is like a 35-metre-tall seedling tray with an even‑aged regrowth canopy typical of post‑logging forest,” Melanie said.

After a hot bushfire in 1991 and a later low‑intensity fire in 2012, the forest has continued to recover naturally. Today it is largely weed‑free, with a developing canopy, midstorey and understorey that provide shelter, food and movement pathways for wildlife.

Alongside koalas, the property supports glossy black cockatoos, powerful owls, brush‑tailed phascogales, spotted‑tailed quolls, grey‑headed flying foxes and Stephens’ banded snakes.

Recognising the value of shared learning in conservation, Melanie and Matthew have also made the property available for citizen science and education events.

Last year, they hosted a Private Land Conservation Matters koala field day for local Landcare NSW members that shared how to identify koala food trees and how private land can contribute to koala conservation.

Drawing on their own experience, Melanie, a bush regenerator, and Matthew, who runs a small native plant nursery on site, offered practical insights into forest recovery, habitat quality and revegetation using local species.

“We’ve made our property available because it’s another way to contribute beyond our own land,” Melanie said.

“Helping people recognise koala food trees and understand how habitat functions on private land can make a real difference at a landscape scale.”  

Senior Landholder Support Officer Rye Gollan said private land was critical to koala conservation in NSW.  

“So much of NSW’s biodiversity, including key koala habitat, occurs on private land,” Rye said.  

“When landholders protect these areas and share what they’ve learned with others, it strengthens habitat connectivity and builds collective capacity to care for species like koalas, especially as climate pressures increase.”  

With three quarters of the property formally protected, Melanie and Matthew live lightly on the remaining area, focusing on weed prevention, regeneration and supporting natural recovery.

For Melanie, formal protection and opening the land for learning has brought a keen sense of purpose.

“It’s a really fulfilling legacy to leave,” she said.  

“Protecting koala habitat, contributing to learning, and knowing the forest can continue to recover and stay connected really matters to us.”