Nature NSW Winter 2025

Gary Dunnett, NPA Chief Executive Officer

One of the most satisfying aspects of caring about nature is the endless opportunities to make a difference. Whether tackling local weed infestations, exploring a national park, campaigning for the protection of threatened habitats or species, or getting involved in the reform of nature laws or Australia’s implementation of the international convention on biodiversity. My practice has always been to mix and match between ‘local’ and ‘global’ scales, balancing the frustrations of conservation advocacy with satisfying moments in my local patch.

Any sense of balance has been challenging in 2025. Even if you narrow your focus to environmental issues, it is fair to say there have never been such disruption of the international consensus around climate action, the biodiversity conservation and even the purpose of protected areas. When the birthplace of the National Park, the United States, turns its back on more than a century of bipartisan protections, the potential for profound shifts in public attitude becomes all too clear. Australia is very different from the US, yet the current election campaign shows worrying signs that past commitments to improving our environment are being questioned.

All of which could potentially undermine our determination to get better outcomes for nature in NSW. I was carefully pushing aside such thoughts as I headed down the South Coast to meet with members of Milton, Eurobodalla and Far South Coast branches about their Great Southern Forests National Park campaign. The concept is basically the Great Koala National Park on steroids, think a protected forest estate that stretches over 1.1 million hectares, as compared to the ‘mere’ 0.3 million hectares in the koala park. The sort of big thinking that NPA has championed for decades, and which offers hope for the future of our forests and their inhabitants.

Meeting with campaign members and generous donors was incredibly uplifting. But even more so when mixed with a visit to one of the State Forests at the heart of the proposed park, Badja. Badja State Forest sits at the top of the escarpment above the coastal forests, a place of cold winters, steep slopes and tall wet forests. It’s a forest of abundant hollows with many trees damaged by the 2019/20 megafires.

I first saw Greater Gliders near Yerranderrie at the southern end of the Greater Blue Mountains. They looked for all the world like arboreal muppets, with their characteristic goofy ears and long furry tails. A quarter of a century ago they were the most common animal we spotlighted, with 2 or 3 in each 100m transect.

The following 25 years have seen Greater Glider populations plummet across their range, and I didn’t expect to ever see them in such abundance again. But then came Badja. The first gilder we spotted was barely 30 metres from our camp, emerging from a large hollow. Fifteen minutes later a second glider came out of the same hollow and gave Dave Gallan, president Far South Coast branch and wildlife photographer extraordinaire, the chance to video it in flight.

Those first gliders were no fluke, and the following couple of hours revealed another dozen. My favourite was a small black Greater Glider with a distinctive white stripe from throat to tail. It was perched in the midstorey, offering an irresistible photographic opportunity. The next one we saw was much larger, with a blotchy pattern of yellow highlights on light grey fur.

Seeing so many gliders was a magical experience. It wasn’t just the numbers, but the fact that they were inhabiting a forest that had been so severely impacted by fire. Post-fire surveys show that Greater Gliders are highly impacted by intense wildlfires, whether from the direct impacts of smoke and heat or, in the aftermath, the loss of the leaves on which they feed. Either the fires through Badja were less intense than we feared, or parts of the original population had survived in unburnt remnants. Either way, the result was far more gliders than I ever expected to see. A very welcome surprise indeed.

None of which denies the troubling trends in attitudes towards nature. Yet a reminder, and one I needed, that there is always the chance to rekindle our determination to keep working on a brighter future.

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