Geoff Helisma | World Wildlife Sanctuaries founder Peter Steele may be 82 but that is no barrier to his campaign to “establish safe permanent wildlife sanctuaries for the conservation, care and protection of endangered koalas and other wildlife”. The sprightly Gold Coast man stopped off at Maclean last week, his first port of call before heading off on his attempt “to become the oldest person to sail around the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted … to save koalas from extinction”. The Independent caught up with Mr Steele and Lou Jardine, the boss of his worldwide corporate sponsor, Spar Australia, at Bob Little’s Spar store in Maclean. Mr Steele has started his quest by establishing a 160 hectare sanctuary at Kyogle, the first, he hopes, of many more. In NSW, for example, the plight of the koala is the subject of a political ‘football match’: there are many media reports and a television campaign about the NSW Government’s proposed logging laws and the resultant destruction of habitat. Critics argue that the new logging laws do not concur with the NSW chief scientist’s 2016 recommendation to “stabilise and then start to increase koala numbers – this will require actions to protect, rehabilitate and connect koala habitats, as well as a range of measures to manage and mitigate threats to koalas”. The Member for Oxley Melinda Pavey reckons the Bellingen Shire Council’s June 2018 motion to, in part, “establish, with appropriate ecotourism infrastructure investment planned in conjunction with Council, the Great Koala National Park”, is political spin. “What they [The Greens] are really doing is locking up forests that communities need for sustainable wood … and worse still, there is no evidence this will save any more koalas,” she was reported to have said in the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun. This kind of argy bargy is exactly what has motivated Mr Steele and like-minded citizens to take some control of the situation. He says “sitting on our hands” and expecting governments to do the right thing amounts to a pipedream. “I don’t believe we will ever get that,” he said, “let’s not sit back and do nothing or wait for a piecemeal solution: we have to make a start.” His short term goal over the next five years is to “raise a million dollars and use it to purchase land for conversion into sanctuaries”. He has planned for the event of his death, too, having set up his not for profit organisation to continue his work post mortem – there are no salaried positions; all funds are used for the cause or to pay for expenses. Planting koala habitat trees, he says, is a big part of establishing sanctuaries, which creates additional environmentally friendly outcomes. “It’s a long-term thing – we are looking at creating complete ecosystems,” Mr Steele said. “And, on average, when each tree is mature it will sequestrate 400 kilograms of carbon from the atmosphere every year.” This aspect is a major motivation for Spar’s involvement. Spar Australia’s managing director, Lou Jardine, said his company became interested “two years ago after hearing about the concept”. “We were impressed by Peter’s passion, commitment and vision and we were looking for someone to partner with. “Spar is a community-based organisation invested in small communities and it’s important to give back … and most owners have close community connections with local clients – the koala is an Australian icon.” To date, Mr Jardine said, Spar has raised $45,000 towards the cause. The tree planting fits in with Spar’s goal to be carbon neutral, too. “I believe we have a responsibility to sustain our environment, and have a lot of fun doing it,” he said. “Commercially, we will establish each store as a fundraiser.” Bob Little, whose store has been voted the nation’s best on several occasions, said he was proud of his brand’s “focus on environmental issues”. “A lot of people are concerned about the plight of koalas … it’s a big issue that affects all of us,” he said. There’s much more to this campaign; too much to cover here: for more information and/or to join or donate, go to: www.wws.io and www.sail4wildlife.com.au.