Koala Conservation Campaign
Engage, Enchant, Inform
March 2018 — Nov 2019
For 18 months I was the Comms Officer for Redland City Council’s Koala Conservation Program.
At its heart the campaign was about changing attitudes and behaviour around protecting koala habitat. We started with high community awareness about koalas and the issues they faced (climate change, development, car and dog injuries), but were confronted with community fatigue regarding the things people felt they could do to help protect koalas. We needed to empower people to act, so used an ‘Engage, Enchant, Inform’ framework, alongside commissioning scientific research about local koalas and establishing ‘Koala-safe neighbourhoods’, where we could target our messages, research defined populations, and run specific community events.
I developed a series of integrated and multi-channel campaigns that included community engagement, behaviour change, media, conservation and public education strategies. I collaborated with community, government and research bodies; the campaigns supported the enhancement and protection of strategic koala habitat though plantings and restoration projects; and we increased the awareness and participation of Redlands residents in koala conservation actions.
The Campaign lead to lower koala injury and deaths and increased rates of ‘personal responsibility’ about koala conservation from the community, and it increased ‘koala food and shelter trees’ being planted across the Council area.
I was fortunate to work with the amazing Garry Wheelhouse from Thoughthouse Media Agency.