In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure.
Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving around it, with the stories of Aboriginal trackers and deeply entrenched in Australian folklore. Bushland has been a traditional source of wood for fuel and bushfood.
Bushland provides a number of ecosystem services including the protection of water quality, stopping erosion, acting as a windbreak, and trapping nutrients. Bushland is prone to bushfires. This presents a challenge to authorities as infrastructure and habitations encroach into bushland areas.
Bushland preservation has become the focus of some conservation efforts. In Brisbane, the Brisbane City Council has established a Bushland Acquisition Program, which is funded by a small levy paid by rate-payers. The program began in 1990 and aims to protect koala habitat from urban development. It is estimated that the koala population in the area had declined from 6,240 in 1996 to 1,500 in 2012.
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