FORTY hectares of koala habitat will be rehabilitated at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens after WetlandCare Australia was awarded close to $100,000 to conduct work at the site.
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The garden's chairman Kevin Stokes said the area of concern was located in the southern conservation area of the gardens and had been overgrown with lantana.
"It [lantana] used to be bad everywhere," he said.
"All you could see was lantana."
The grant will go directly to WetlandCare Australia, who will perform the work.
NSW minister for the environment Robyn Parker and Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann made the announcement at the gardens on Friday, August 9.
"The NSW government supports communities to look after their own environment because they have local knowledge and a strong connection to their local area," Mr Baumann said.
"A dense blanket of lantana is shading the ground, inhibiting succession of other species and the degradation of habitat is identified as a threat to koala and other threatened species habitats."
Ms Parker said the grant had the potential to help the environment in a variety of ways.
"The project will also benefit a number of threatened species such as the grey headed flying fox, regent honeyeater and swift parrot, as well as four threatened plants and a range of orchids."
