'An act of vandalism, not forestry': Logging of endangered greater glider habitat in Qld State Forests revealed

Confronting new video evidence shows logging occurring in the habitat of endangered greater gliders in publicly owned native forests, shortly after the government promised a greater glider forest park would be created.

This shocking development also comes right as more Australian animals have been declared threatened and on the brink of extinction.

Screenshot from video evidence of logging in a state forest near Maryborough, close to den and feeding sites of the endangered greater gliders.

A team of volunteer experts and citizen scientists went to a state forest near Maryborough at the end of July, and discovered a high density population of the endangered greater glider - a species which is native to Queensland and on the decline across the country.

Logging was documented less than three kilometres from a site where the group spotted seven of the elusive, nocturnal greater gliders in just one night.

The nature defenders are keeping the precise location of the sightings secret for fear of an acceleration of logging where this highly sensitive species is sheltered. Maps and photographic evidence have been shared with media.

Queensland Conservation Council and concerned wildlife experts are calling for protection of all greater glider habitat on state-owned land and a commitment to fund new national parks and protected areas dedicated to the species’ recovery.

Nicky Moffat, Queensland Conservation Council Protected Areas Campaigner and forestry graduate of ANU, said:

This footage is damning evidence that endangered greater gliders are at direct risk from logging taking place in our state forests.

In this special forest that is slated for logging, we just spotted seven greater gliders. We found a recent logging incident just a couple of kilometres away, and can see on government maps this forest is under no form of protection.

Who’s to say how much longer those trees will remain standing, that are home to the iconic greater gliders we had the pleasure to see?

What is happening in these logging sites is not forestry - it's vandalism.

We’re concerned that if we raise the profile of these forests, they’ll be targeted intensively for logging.

It’s sad but we’re in a bind because the Queensland forestry Department hasn’t been doing its job, it should know where these endangered animals are and that logging their homes is not going to help recover the species.

Logging is incompatible with protecting greater gliders. When their habitat is logged, greater gliders die.

They rely on hollows in old eucalypt trees to nest in, and a precise mix of favourite feed tree species. If we cut down those trees, they won’t regrow for many decades and the species will disappear in that time. It takes more than 100 years for hollows to form in eucalypts.

We are calling for the protection of all known and potential greater glider habitat.

Ending logging in native forests would be a win for Queensland. Our state would generate more jobs by protecting its key asset - nature - and celebrating tourism and conservation, than by mining these assets for timber that we don’t need.

Planted forests are the future of a sustainable timber industry, and already supply 90% of Queensland’s timber market.

Forestry should be about growing timber for future generations to harvest. Queensland gave up on real forestry more than two decades ago when it stopped measuring and modelling native forests for future timber supply.

Vast areas of new national parks are needed to protect the greater glider, as well as a significant boost in funding to care for these world class protected areas, which protect and celebrate the natural and cultural values that make Queensland so special.

Queensland Conservation Council will soon get in a room with political, forestry and construction industry leaders as part of the state’s Stakeholder Timber Advisory Group (STAG). We need timely outcomes on mapping a cooperative path towards a sustainable and secure sourcing of timber for Queensland’s future that meets environmental needs.

Animals like the greater glider can’t be saved without protecting native forests, and unless we act soon, their survival is at risk.

Greater glider spotted in a state forest near Maryborough at the end of July 2024. Image credit: Josh Bowell

Matt Cecil, Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland Project Manager, said:

The largest gliding mammal in Australia is on track to become extinct as a result of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, fire and a changing climate.

Disturbing the habitat of an endangered species is not acceptable. The protection of habitat is critical for their conservation and persistence.

Logging within greater glider habitat impacts the species’ ability to move safely through their home range and leads to a loss of tree hollows.

Greater gliders don’t cope well with habitat disturbances like human-caused logging. They are not inclined to travel far across open ground to move between trees. They require connected, mature eucalypt forest with a high proportion of large tree hollows, and feed almost exclusively on eucalypt leaves.

Unfortunately, greater glides are not afforded the same level of popularity and exposure here in SEQ as the koala, yet they are on the path to extinction, just the same. The endangered greater glider needs a funding and conservation investment like that which SEQ’s koalas have received in recent years.

This species requires a genuine commitment from the State Government to ensure the greater glider population increases - a commitment that greater glider habitat will no longer be cleared, but strategically increased.

Tina Raveneau, nature spotter and local resident, lives close to a state forest near Maryborough. She said:

I'd heard reports from other locals that one or two greater gliders had been seen a few years ago so a few of us citizen scientists just went spotlighting to see what we could find.

I chose an area that had all the right feed tree species and large hollows close by and we were amazed to see seven greater gliders in a 1 km stretch! I'd done a fair bit of spotlighting before but have never seen a greater glider up close, let alone seven of them.

Follow-up surveys in slightly different areas have been just as successful, with our top count being 10 in one night.

My neighbours are all very excited as many had never even heard of greater gliders. We also have yellow-bellied gliders (another endangered species) in the forest.

It looks like we still have a substantial population of these endangered greater gliders so it's vital that we preserve this critical habitat.

Tina Raveneau (far right) joined other Wide Bay greater glider spotters at the end of July in a state forest near Maryborough