Instead of koala food trees being cleared for development, in Queensland's Lockyer Valley, they're being replanted.

The question is, with more than 12,500 koala food trees rooted at 30 minutes' drive west of Ipswich at Grandchester since 2013, will koalas return?

Powerlink's Gerard Reilly and Shannon Mooney from Healthy Land and Water discuss the successful planting of 12,500 koala food trees. Credit:Tony Moore

The organisations behind the replanting exercise are Powerlink, Healthy Land and Water and the Ipswich City Council.

Five years ago they began replanting trees and surprisingly - given the drought - 98 per cent of them survived.