Nominations are now open for the first annual Koala Supporters Awards.

The purpose of these awards is to recognise the efforts of individuals and businesses in the community in voluntarily assisting in the recovery of the Tea Gardens Hawks Nest endangered koala population.

"The idea of the awards is to nominate a business or organisation that helps our koala population in some form or another," Koala Working Group representative Ian Morphett said.

"That could be through safe driving practices or encouraging people to report sightings."

Great Lakes Council has also taken an interest in the awards.

"The awards will help publicly acknowledge some of the valuable work that is being done by committed individuals within our community to help monitor, protect and raise awareness about our local endangered koalas," council's community education representative on the group Kate Adkins said.

The awards are also open to businesses that are involved in the Koala Working Group's free Koala Business Partners program.

"We have 35 local business that have signed up as Koala Business Partners, and many are providing an excellent service of passing on information to the community about our endangered koalas and how we can help them," Ms Adkins said.

Businesses and individuals must be nominated by a third party in order to be eligible to receive an award.

Mr Morphett said it was hoped the awards would have many long-term benefits for the local koala community.

"Long term we're hoping people become more aware of the fact that koalas are endangered," he said.

"Five or ten years ago we had 50 koalas in this area, now that's down to about 20 and we lost another one on Sunday.

"Having koalas here is a win for local organisations in that they draw tourists and business can only benefit from that."

The closing date for nominations is the August 31 and awards will be presented at a ceremony in Hawks Nest on September 8. Nomination forms and further information can be requested from council's assistant environmental officer Kate Adkins on 6591 7306.