When a leading local environmentalist says her trip to Africa was probably one of her best holidays ever, you can bet she’ll have a rich story to tell of the trip. Lois Levy, founding president and Campaign Coordinator of Gecko, the Gold Coast’s peak environmental body, recently returned from a safari in Botswana which fulfilled a lifelong dream. Hear her distinctive view on the ecology and some of the animals of that country, which she chose not only because of her research and because it’s considered politically stable—but also she’d enjoyed the movie, A United Kingdom!

Volunteers are wanted to help with campaign actions. Have an hour or two a week to spare? Want to help save the environment on the Gold Coast? Do you love koalas? All help welcome; a wide variety of campaigns are being researched etc. Contact Gecko office@gecko.org.au if you can help with Campaigns and a person from the Team will contact you.

The City plan, planning scheme and the Crime and Corruption Committee

The Spit Master Plan by Lois Levy The campaign to protect the public open space of The Spit at the Gold Coast Broadwater has been a fierce and often divisive one for over thirty years. The development industry has wanted

The Cane Toad Challenge is based on a clever new way to turn the creatures' own toxins against them.   It is a way all of us can help eradicate this fast-breeding pest. Professor rob Capon and his team have developed an innovative cane toad tadpole trapping technology that uses a nature road pheromone to lure toad tadpoles into a trap. Better still, he's coming to the Gold Coast to tell us about it.

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

The campaign for this small public open space in Bundall began in 2014 and has attracted the support of thousands of people, appalled that Council is giving this lake to the Gold Coast Turf Club to fill and use as a car park. Black Swan Lake is a haven to over 50 species of birds as well as other wildlife, and is an important green space for the neighbourhood. Public open space in Gold Coast City is constantly under threat from some in the business sector, who see such land as open to commercial exploitation. There have been many examples of businesses wanting to develop public open space for their own personal profit. As many Councillors support business in these endeavours, it is left to the environment and community sectors to remain vigilant and campaign to retain essential green spaces in the city.

Our furry friends are in trouble. Despite Borobi koala being chosen as the icon for the Commonwealth Games this year, the real koalas on the Gold Coast are in dire straits. The population continues to decline regardless of measures taken to date to “save” them and experts such as Dr Steven Phillips predict they will be extinct in the wild within 5-10 years unless further immediate action is taken. You can be part of the solutions.

EcoExplorer’s Kid’s Club will start again in February on Friday afternoons after school from 3.30pm till 5.30m, Each week there will be different focus. We will go out into the field to learn about our native plants and animals. Games, story, and competitions will all reinforce the topic of the week.

Adult educational walks of the Currumbin and Tallebudgera Estuaries or Flat Rock Creek with the Gecko Ed Team.