A leading researcher into forest science and particularly our understanding of koalas in NSW Dr Brad Law has been appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW. Source: Timberbiz
Australian Forest Products Association NSW CEO Sue Grau said that since the Society was founded in 1887, fewer than 100 people have been elected as Fellows.
“Dr Law joins an elite group. It’s a great recognition of Dr Law’s contribution,” she said.
“We are lucky to have Dr Law working in NSW and acknowledge his valuable work investigating the koala populations in the north of the state. This currently includes looking at how koalas use the landscape after timber harvesting, in a joint project with Forestry Corporation of NSW and the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital,” Ms Gau said.
His ground-breaking work using GPS tracking suggests that koalas use young regenerating trees as well as mature forest in their ranges. This is some of the information contributing to our knowledge of how koalas interact with their habitat, which will underpin recommendations for industry operations.
“Dr Law is also using acoustic recording of koala bellows during spring mating season to more accurately estimate koala populations. Some of Dr Law’s recent work finalised after the 2019/20 bushfires suggests there may be far more koalas in State forests than previously thought,” Ms Gau said.
“A shout out to the NSW Government for continuing to support an evidence-based approach to forest management. We look forward to such research being integrated with government policies and appreciate the team of scientists working hard to inform the continued sustainable production of native and plantation timbers,” Ms Grau said.
