Calls to halt Glenbog logging after citizen scientists identify 102 greater glider den trees

A former NSW Labor environment minister, Bob Debus, has urged the government to stop imminent logging at Glenbog state forest on the south coast after citizen scientists recorded 102 trees they say are home to endangered greater gliders. Wilderness Australia said its volunteers detected the 102 so-called “den trees” during surveys over the past two months; Glenbog is scheduled for logging in the next few weeks.

Under state rules, logging is not permitted within 50 metres of known den trees, but Forestry Corporation surveys in the area recorded just four such trees. Debus said the Forestry Corporation was in breach of its own regulations so frequently that the practice was “effectively part of its business model.” A string of convictions recorded by the government-owned agency last year prompted a former magistrate to compare it to a “criminal organisation”, an accusation the Forestry Corporation at the time called “ridiculous”.

Andrew Wong, operations manager of Wilderness Australia, said volunteers used thermal cameras and spotlights at dusk to record greater glider sightings, uploaded the data to a phone app and sent it to the government site BioNet. He warned Forestry Corporation could be “committing ecological fraud” if it continued minimal surveys and undercounted gliders.

Key Topics

Politics, Glenbog State Forest, Greater Glider, Wilderness Australia, Nsw Forestry Corporation, Bob Debus