Kate Carroll, Conservation Projects Officer, NPA NSW
The Southern Forests National Park is one of NPA’s most ambitious proposals, aiming to secure permanent protection for over 350,000 hectares of public native forests in southeastern NSW. Stretching from Jervis Bay to the Victorian border, this proposal would significantly expand the NPWS estate in the region to approximately 930,000 hectares. These forests, home to gliders, owls, potoroos, and other threatened species, have long been impacted by unsustainable logging and now face ecological collapse. Conserving them within the protected area network is critical for species longevity and survival.
Technical desktop analysis and scientific assessment for the proposal is progressing, with a comprehensive report, to support the campaign, set to be complete in the coming months. To supplement desktop analysis, several field surveys have been conducted by local NPA members and staff in the State Forests of the region, including most recently in December 2024. Surveys have focused on forests with gaps in threatened species records on Bionet. Additionally, we aimed to capture footage of rare and threatened wildlife to strengthen campaign efforts and highlight the incredible biodiversity of southern NSW.
Dave Gallan (President, NPA Far South Coast Banch) and I led the surveys over 6 days and 5 nights, conducting both diurnal and nocturnal surveys. We were fortunate to be joined on various days and nights by Brigitte Nairn (Milton Branch), Joslyn van der Moolen (Eurobodalla Branch), Gary Dunnett (CEO), other NPA members, staff, and volunteers. We were also joined by friends from conservation and local groups, including Wilderness Australia, Forces for Nature (Social Justice Advocates of the Sapphire Coast) and Tantawangalo Catchment Protection Association, instrumental in the formation of the South East Forest National Park.
The surveys also provided a valuable opportunity to bring together NPA members and local conservationists with an interest in the project. So we took a break from surveying and met over morning tea at South Durras to discuss the project in detail and allow us all to put faces to names. The meeting was a great success, with attendees engaging in both the technical and political aspects of the project and looking ahead to the future campaigning stage.
Being such a vast area, there was large ground to cover over the week of field work. It commenced in sweltering, humid conditions at Mogo State Forest, where the group were lucky to see a pair of Glossy Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and Little Lorikeets (Glossopsitta pusilla) in the daytime and a white morph Southern Greater Glider (Petauroides volans) grooming at night. We also heard Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus australis), Southern Boobook (Ninox boobook), Australian Owlet Nightjar (Aegotheles cristatus) and White-throated Nightjar (Eurostopodus mystacalis) calls.
Our next stop was Nullica State Forest, where we heard the begging calls of a juvenile Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa). Dave Gallan and James Sherwood were lucky to spot the owl with thermal imagery and capture exquisite film and photos with infrared detectors. This rare and elusive species is a key indicator of a healthy prey population, and its presence underscored the high biodiversity value of the State Forests.
Moving on to South East Forest National Park, the heat of Mogo was well behind us and it was an exceptionally cold evening (about 5 degrees!). Upon leaving our campsite at Alexanders Hut, we encountered a high density of Greater Gliders, spotting nine individuals in just a few hundred metres of spotlighting. Later that night, in Glenbog State Forest, we observed even more Greater Gliders, including a rarely filmed feeding behaviour.
The next day in Glenbog, the birdlife was abundant — Black-faced Monarch (Monarcha melanopsis), Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons), and Superb Lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) were spotted. That evening, we were in for another spectacle as Yellow-bellied Gliders emerged from their den trees, gliding silently overhead before landing to feed on the sap of towering eucalypts. Adding to the magic of the night, a Southern Boobook visited our campsite as we were heading to sleep.
On our final day, we ventured to Badja, where we visited a Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) nest, observing the breeding pair returning to feed their young. The forest was rich with nesting birdlife, including Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus) and Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) making use of the abundant tree hollows. As night fell, we located several more Greater Gliders, including two den trees, further emphasising the critical role these forests play in supporting hollow-dependent fauna.
It was a journey filled with long hours, late nights, and plenty of driving, but the sheer abundance of wildlife kept our energy high. The forests were alive in a way that reaffirmed our mission—ensuring their protection so these incredible species can continue to thrive.