South East Queensland is one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions and the land being cleared to accommodate that population growth is exactly the land koalas need to survive. In 2022, koalas were listed as Endangered under national law.
In just over twenty years, South East Queensland has grown rapidly, adding almost 1.7 million people to the region. This 69% increase is expected to continue, with another 700,000 residents projected by 2046. But as new suburbs, roads, schools and basic infrastructure are built, one important question is often not answered: what was this land and who used it before expanding of land?
Koala habitat in South East Queensland is not safely tucked away from development. Much of it lies within the same land that are growing the fastest. Somerset contains the largest area of locally refined koala habitat, followed by Moreton Bay. These areas are also facing strong pressure from housing growth and urbanization. In the chart, darker bars show areas with faster population growth, highlighting where koala habitat is under the greatest pressure. As these continue to grow, the space available for wildlife becomes increasingly less.
When population growth is compared with koala habitat, the problem becomes clearer. The councils gaining the most people are not expanding into empty spaces. Many are growing in areas where koalas live. Moreton Bay and Brisbane stand out because they have both strong population growth and important koala habitat. This creates pressure between the need for new homes and the need to protect wildlife. This bubble chart helps show this problem clearly by bringing growth and habitat into the same view.
At first, Queensland’s land clearing trend looks positive because total clearing has dropped by more than half since 2018–19. However, a closer look shows a different problem. While clearing for agriculture has gone down, clearing for urban development and infrastructure has increased by 60%. This type of clearing is linked to new suburbs, roads and services. As more people move into South East Queensland, the region is not only using existing developed land. It is also creating new spaces by clearing land that may have supported wildlife and habitat.
The purple areas show official koala habitat, which are the bush land areas koalas still rely on. The dots show where koalas have been recorded over the past two decades. Lighter dots show older sightings, while darker dots show more recent ones. You can switch layers on and off to compare habitat areas with koala sighting records. This helps show where koalas are still being seen, where habitat remains, and where there may be growing gaps between the two.
The story of the Data. These five charts show a region growing faster than planning systems can manage, and koalas are being affected by that growth. The 2022 Endangered listing made this problem official. While some types of land clearing have decreased, urban and infrastructure clearing continues to grow. This is especially concerning because it is happening in areas where koalas live. The future of koalas in South East Queensland will depend on the choices being made now by councils, planners and developers. This is just one example but there are many species all over the worls facing similar problems. It is important to make sure we ensure the habitat of all living beings.
Dataset:
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Regional population, 2024–25 (cat. no. 3218.0). ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/latest-release
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Population projections, Australia, 2022 (base)–2071 (cat. no. 3222.0). ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/population-projections-australia/latest-release
Queensland Government. (2024). SEQ Koala Conservation Strategy 2020–2025 spatial data — Locally Refined Koala Habitat Areas v4.0 [Data set]. Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation. https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/south-east-queensland-koala-conservation-strategy-2020-2025
Queensland Government. (2025). WildNet koala sighting records [Data set]. Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation. https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/wildnet-koala-locations
Queensland Government. (2024). SLATS 2022–23 report — Landcover replacement class of woody vegetation cleared in Queensland [Data set]. Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation. https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/2022-23-slats-report
Website:
https://wwf.org.au/what-we-do/species/koala/
https://colorhunt.co/palettes/gradient
Modules:
RMIT University, School of Computing Technologies, Data Visualisation and Communication, Modules, 2026
Generative AI like, ChatGPT was used to support R code development and debugging during this assignment. The data sources, visualisation choices, story format, and final interpretation of the results are my own. All results from Gen AI was checked and verfied before using it.