NSW Forestry Minister, Tara Moriarty, has authorised the destruction of large sections of what is likely the most important greater glider stronghold left in the southern NSW.

Glenbog State Forest, east of Cooma, contains some of the tallest and most biologically productive old growth forests in NSW. It was largely unburnt during the Black Summer bushfires, making it a rare refugia for fire-sensitive species like the greater glider and yellow-bellied glider. Glenbog contains dense populations of both threatened glider species, despite their numbers plummeting across much of the surrounding region due to habitat loss, fire and climate change.

Last week, logging started in one of three operations scheduled to begin in Glenbog over the next six months, totalling more than a thousand hectares. According to the Forestry Corporation’s logging plan, more than 80% of the trees cut down will be turned into woodchips, and likely used to make paper or cardboard.

Last year, we successfully stopped logging in Tallaganda and Badja State Forests by finding the homes of greater gliders, known as den trees, which must be protected with a 0.78 hectare logging exclusion zone. Since December, we have been using this same strategy in Glenbog and have so far found 51 den trees within the scheduled operations. Despite our countless nights spent surveying, this has not yet been enough to stop logging. 

In targeting this biodiversity stronghold, the Minns Government is setting the nationally endangered greater glider firmly on the path to extinction in southern NSW.

This action follows a similarly chilling authorisation by the Forestry Minister to intensively log more than 12,000 hectares of the Great Koala National Park assessment area, near Coffs Harbour, which contains the best remaining koala habitat on earth. The koala is listed by the NSW and Federal governments as Endangered, and is on track to disappear in the wild from NSW by 2050.

Less than a year ago, the NSW Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe said: “We cannot ignore the truth: biodiversity in NSW is in crisis. Our goal must be to leave nature better off than we have found it.”

There seems to be two conflicting policy positions within the NSW government. The Environment Minister has put government policy into words. The Forestry Minister is overseeing an entirely different policy on the ground. For endangered species, the policy on the ground is the one that matters.

In order to prevent further den tree surveys, Forestry Corporation of NSW has made an unusual decision to close parts of the forest and make it a prohibited area. Nonetheless, we intend to remain on the ground working to document the destruction while trying to prevent it through further den tree identification.

The race is now on to ensure that Glenbog is protected, just as Tallaganda and Badja were. If you can, please consider making a donation to help us fund this survey work.