Forest scientists are now using artificial intelligence to estimate population trends inside iconic forest species across north‑east NSW, building on more than a decade of acoustic monitoring. That is according to Dr Brad Law, the principal research scientist at the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and adjunct fellow at QUT, who is involved in Forest Voices – an acoustic monitoring program – which is now deploying song metres deep into the forest to analyse forest fauna recordings using AI recognisers.
Since 2015, the department has captured thousands of hours of acoustic data, and whilst the research to date has seen koala occupancy populations estimated up to 2021, researchers are now turning their attention to about a dozen or so ‘iconic forest species’ located across which could soon be included in the new Great Koala National Park. “Last week I completed our song meter deployments for this year,” Dr Law said on LinkedIn yesterday, before adding that the new results will hopefully be published next year.
The scientists have used AI to establish that koalas are “high and stable” in NSW forests.
In May, Dr Law revealed that, thanks to AI‑analysed acoustic surveys, researchers can now establish that koala population densities in state forests are virtually identical to those found in national parks.
Between 2015 and 2020, Dr Law’s team logged more than 14,000 hours of koala bellows across 171 public‑land sites, with unique vocal signatures confirming population stability. As a result, Dr Law noted that sealed roads, not timber harvesting, posed the greatest risk, warning that “more roads equal more road‑kill and fewer koalas. It should be a high priority to mitigate road damage.”
“In part this is because within state forests there are extensive exclusion zones,” Dr Law told the Norco Primix 2025 in Casino, NSW, adding that sealed roads, not timber harvesting, posed the greatest risk: “More roads equal more road-kill and fewer koalas. It should be a high priority to mitigate road damage.”
- To learn more about Dr Law’s research, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from last year.
