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.

Today's incoming 50c public transport fares for south east Queensland could cut the number of kilometres driven on our roads by 1.5 billion km every year, saving 245,000 tonnes of carbon pollution every year, and reducing wildlife deaths.

The new analysis from Queensland Conservation Council is based on SEQ's new public transport fares diverting just 10% of commuters to trains and buses from private vehicles, with the state's environmental peak body calling for on-going public transport investment to ensure people take advantage of this climate and cost of living solution.

The Queensland Conservation Council welcomes the significant discussion during Budget Estimates last night on the timeline to reach 17% protected area, as outlined in the Queensland Government’s Protected Areas Strategy.

Queenslanders love nature and polling shows that 77% of Queenslanders want more national parks, and 71% support a doubling of parks by 2030. These figures are supported by enthusiastic public use of national parks, with almost two thirds of Queenslanders having visited a national park in the last 12 months and over 90% saying national parks are important for our lifestyle. The expansion of protected areas is central to the outdoor recreation sector, which in turn delivers significant health and economic benefits for Queenslanders, and to Queensland’s tourism industry, a major pillar of our economy.

Queensland is home to a remarkable 85% of Australia’s native mammals, 72% of its native birds, and slightly over 50% of its native reptiles and frogs. Within Queensland, 1,049 species of plants and animals are classified as threatened under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, with 713 species found only in Queensland.

By better protecting and managing Queensland’s natural landscapes we can play a critical role in protecting Australia’s unique natural and cultural heritage.

The decision today by the World Heritage Committee not to list the Great Barrier Reef as endangered should not be taken as an excuse to delay strong action to reduce emissions.

Warmer water temperature due to global heating is the key driver of the mass bleaching events that are endangering the Great Barrier Reef.

Environment groups are giving evidence today at the Senate inquiry into the Nature Positive (Environment Protection Australia) Bill, aiming to send a clear message to the Albanese government that the so-called "Stage 2" environment reforms will require significant amendments in the Senate to change the status quo for nature.

A new report has ignited significant concerns that nuclear power in Queensland would be a direct threat to our water supply, potentially discharging nuclear toxins into water sources that provide drinking water in SEQ and water used to irrigate crops in the regions.

The Department of Premier and Cabinet has released new analysis (PDF 1mb) that clearly shows the Federal Coalition's nuclear power policy is a threat to Queensland's water security in Brisbane and the regions.

Read the report: Delayed Reaction: Why Queensland Will Never Need Nuclear Energy (PDF 7mb)

Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) has today released a new analysis showing that the equivalent of 45,000 Queensland household solar systems would need to be shut off every day to allow just one nuclear power station to operate in 2040. With the renewable energy rollout well underway, by the time we have built a nuclear power station in Queensland, we won't have the need for it.

Clare Silcock, Energy Strategist at QCC, said:

Nuclear power stations can’t easily turn off, which means by 2040, we’d have to turn off a staggering 3,700 GWh of cheap renewable energy every year just to run one nuclear power station. We would be shutting off cheap energy to allow expensive nuclear power to run.

This report shows that nuclear power simply doesn’t fit into a modern grid and isn’t what we need to meet our future energy demands at the least cost.

Our energy system is changing rapidly. We’ve nearly doubled renewable energy in Queensland in five years. A large part of this has been from rooftop solar systems which have fundamentally changed when we need energy to support the grid.

Baseload generation is what our power system was built on, but it’s not what we need in the future. Saying that we need baseload generation is like saying that we need floppy disks to transfer files between computers.

What we need is flexible generation and storage which can move energy from when we have lots of it, in the middle of the day, to when we need it overnight. That is not how nuclear power stations work.

The earliest we could possibly build a nuclear power plant in Australia is 2040 – by then we will have abundant renewable energy and technology like batteries and pumped hydro will be providing the flexible storage we need to support that renewable energy.

Nuclear is also much more expensive than renewable energy backed by storage. CSIRO estimates nuclear could be up to four times more expensive to build. It’s as clear as day that the Federal Coalition’s nuclear plan is a fantasy to delay the closure of Australia’s polluting coal-fired power stations.

We would like to see the Federal Opposition focus on a real plan for bringing down emissions and power prices and that would mean backing renewable energy and storage.

New data released today shows 323,676 hectares of native forest and bushland - the equivalent of 43,600 Suncorp Stadiums - has been cleared in just one year, a devastating result for Queensland’s native animals. 

Queensland has announced a raft of new national parks totalling 59,000 hectares, as it works toward doubling the State's protected areas.

In a win for people and nature, 12,000 hectares of Southeast Queensland native forests will become national park and conservation park as logging winds up in SEQ State Forests this year.

On Friday the Miles Government started the process to dedicate a selection of former logging zones to protected areas.

Areas that will soon be protected include

• More than 1000 hectares of Peachester, Beerburrum West and Luttons State Forests which will be added to Glass House Mountains National Park and Glass House Mountains Conservation Park, including habitat for the greater glider and koala
• About 780 hectares of Yabba, Elgin Vale and Jimna State Forests which will be added to Wrattens National Park north west of Kenilworth, protecting habitat of the tusked frog, glossy black-cockatoo and koala
• More than 6,400 hectares of Squirrel Creek State Forest between Conondale and Nanango will become Squirrel Creek National Park.