Kate Carroll, Conservation Projects Office, NPA NSW
NPA is a member of Forest Alliance NSW (FAN), a newly formed collective of non-government organisations and community groups working to protect native forests and support a plantation-based timber industry in NSW. Other members of the alliance include Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wilderness Australia, Bob Brown Foundation, North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) and South East Regional Conservation Alliance (SERCA). Forest Alliance NSW is raising awareness through the media and alliance networks to expose the truths about the biodiversity and economic impacts of logging and the lack of integrity in Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) operations. The work of the Alliance is supported by citizen science and other research.
The establishment of the alliance is timely as the NSW Government considers the future of the forestry industry in NSW through the establishment of the Independent Forestry Panel. The panel has been established to engage with a wide array of stakeholders and advise the NSW government on optimal ways to balance timber production with environmental responsibilities. Penny Sharpe has indicated the panel will make decisions on the management of forests for the next 30 years[1]. This presents a massive opportunity for the alliance to ramp up the pressure to finally end native forest logging in NSW and transition to a 100% plantation forestry industry.
As part of the Alliance, NPA has been involved in the development of campaign strategies and communications, especially those relating to the future transition to protected areas and the safeguarding of species and habitats of high conservation significance. Along with NPA’s own submission to the Independent Forestry Panel, we also contributed to the Alliance’s submission.
We have also been assisting the work of citizen scientists undertaking targeted surveys for the Southern Greater Glider (Petauroides volans). The species has been a focus of the campaign as it is a species highly threatened by logging. Listed as Endangered under both the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) and Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), it is Australia’s largest gliding mammal. Southern Greater Gliders inhabit the tall wet forests of the east coast, and unfortunately these ecosystems are also preferred timber sources. In NSW, 57% of the species known occurrences is in State Forests, in the south coast this is higher at 66%[2].
The threatened status of the Southern Greater Glider went from Vulnerable to Endangered after the 2019-20 bushfires, and conserving their population in remaining strongholds is vital to their survival. A hollow-dependent species, they prefer large diameter old growth trees for both shelter and foraging[3]. The species moves between den trees, with a single glider using up to 18 different dens[4]. When a den tree is identified, a 50m diameter exclusion zone will be implemented in active logging compartments. Identification of all den sites is difficult, but nevertheless it is critical to identify as many as possible to prevent den trees being logged and increase the area of protected habitat. Spotlighting and stag watching – watching hollows at dusk for emergent nocturnal fauna – are the main survey techniques used by citizen scientists in the alliance to detect gliders and identify den trees.
NPA has been working with members of the alliance to support their GIS data collection and submission of glider survey records into the NSW Bionet Atlas. Submissions to Bionet are important as FCNSW uses these records in planning harvestable areas and marking out exclusion zones for dens. Additionally, the records are filling the gaps in FCNSW’s wholly inadequate surveys. Recent drone surveys commissioned by the Alliance in four State Forests identified 825 gliders and 170 den trees[5]. By comparison, FCNSW found 229 records and 15 dens. The inadequacy of FCNSW surveys is not new – last year they admitted surveys for nocturnal fauna were conducted during the day[6]!
Additionally, NPA has been assisting members of the Alliance to prioritise their survey work by assessing the likelihood of glider occurrence using GIS. Areas affected by high-severity fire have lower densities of greater gliders[7]; higher elevations are preferred[8]; and the species has a positive association with rainforest vegetation types[9], despite feeding solely on eucalypts. Using publicly accessible spatial data, these habitat variables can be overlain to determine the highest probable areas of occurrence. With many forest compartments either active or due to be logged in the next 6 months, this information is a helpful time-saver for field teams run mostly by volunteers.
Unfortunately, FCNSW are continuing to log areas of high-density glider habitat and their watchdog, the NSW Environment Protection Agency (EPA), is doing very little in response to public concerns. The EPA has admitted that they haven’t enforced adequate survey protocols for the species because it would impact timber supply[10]. Whilst we wait for the government to heed the obvious – that native forest logging is unsustainable, driving species to extinction, and needs to end – citizen science is the best we’ve got to protect this unique and precious species, along with so many other species that inhabit the forests of NSW.
To get involved with Forest Alliance NSW and the citizen science work supporting the campaign, go to: https://www.thelaststand.com.au/ .
[1] https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-to-consult-on-forestry-industry-action-plan
[2] Based on an analysis of the NSW Bionet Atlas records of Southern Greater Glider
[3] McGregor D, Nordberg E, Yoon H-J, Youngentob K, Schwarzkopf L, Krockenberger A (2023) Comparison of home range size, habitat use and the influence of resource variations between two species of greater gliders (Petauroides minor and Petauroides volans). PLoS ONE 18(10): e0286813
[4] NSW DCCEEW (2024) Southern Greater Glider – profile
https://threatenedspecies.bionet.nsw.gov.au/profile?id=20306
[5]Forest Alliance NSW (2024) Nature Negative: How governments are pushing greater gliders towards extinction in NSW https://assets.nationbuilder.com/natureorg/pages/2722/attachments/original/1728957958/NATURE_NEGATIVE_FANSW_Report_CP.pdf?1728957958
[6] https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2023/10/06/possum-survey-daylight-blunder
[7] May-Stubbles Jarrah C., Gracanin Ana, Mikac Katarina M. (2022) Increasing fire severity negatively affects greater glider density. Wildlife Research 49, 709-718.
[8] Kavanagh, Rodney P. (2000) Effects of variable-intensity logging and the influence of habitat variables on the distribution of the Greater Glider Petauroides volans in montane forest, southeastern New South Wales Pacific Conservation Biology 6(1) 18 – 30
[9] Goldingay, Ross L., Darren McHugh, and Jonathan L. Parkyn. (2022) Multiyear monitoring of threatened iconic arboreal mammals in a mid‐elevation conservation reserve in eastern Australia. Ecology and Evolution 12.5
[10] https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/news/media-releases/2024/epamedia240527-review-of-forestry-conditions-and-compliance