Greater glider discovery prompts call for change to pre-logging surveys

Elise Kinsella

ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 17 Feb 2016

 

Skilful in the air, but awkward on land - the greater glider, or clumsy possum as it is otherwise known, is having a big impact on the logging wars in Victoria's East Gippsland.

PHOTO: The Goongerah Environment Centre reportedly found 15 protected Greater Glider possums.

Last week the state's logger, VicForests, agreed to lock up 100 hectares of forest after environmentalists discovered 15 of the gliders.

Environmentalists argue VicForests has not done a good enough job at surveying the forests for protected rare and threatened species, so they are conducting their own surveys in other areas.

The Goongerah Environment Centre have completed a night search for the clumsy possum's smaller mate, the yellow-bellied glider.

In the remote Kuark forest, outside of Orbost, the centre's Ed Hill plays recordings of the powerful owl, a predator of the glider, to see if he could hear the frightened response.

"It's been a really successful survey," Mr Hill said.

"We've recorded 10 yellow-bellied gliders on our transect, which is fantastic. That's enough to get this area of forest protected."

The Goongerah Environment Centre wants to see Victoria's Environment Minister Lisa Neville hand over responsibility for these ecological surveys to an independent body, not VicForests.

They argue the logging body simply is not doing a good enough job.

Ms Neville said in a statement: "The Government is disappointed to see that rare and threatened species may have been impacted by the harvesting operations in question, if this community generated information had not been made available.

"We are currently working to ensure that in the future we are guided by the best available data, which will help improve decision making."

VicForests communications manager David Walsh said the logger would also be changing how it surveyed forests.

"VicForests wouldn't have found them [the animals] ourselves in that particular site, and as a result of that type of occurrence and information coming to us, we're now reviewing our overall approach to targeted pre-harvest fauna surveys for species like greater gliders," he said.

He said his organisation would consider any information it was given about the yellow-bellied glider.

Environmentalists accuse state logger of forest survey conflict of interest

AM, ABC Radio 17/02/2016


MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Skilful in the air, but awkward on land - the greater glider, or clumsy possum as it's otherwise known, is having a big impact on East Gippsland's logging wars.

Just last week the state's logger VicForests agreed to lock up 100 hectares of forest after environmentalists discovered 15 of the gliders.

Environmentalists argue VicForests hasn't done a good enough job at surveying the forests for protected rare and threatened species, so they're conducting their own surveys in other areas. 

Journalist Elise Kinsella joined the Goongerah Environment Centre's Ed Hill during a night search for the clumsy possum's smaller mate, the yellow-bellied glider.

(Crickets chirp)

ELISE KINSELLA: It's the dark of night here in the remote Kuark forest, outside of Orbost. We're about to play a recording of the powerful owl, a predator of the glider, to see if we can hear a frightened response.

(Sound owl with distant possum response)

Ed, that second sound we heard after the recorded owl noise, that screech in the background - that's what we were after?

ED HILL: Yeah that's it, it's that low guttural, kind of... it's quite a distinct sound, and that's what we're looking for. So we record the direction that we've heard that call coming from and we estimate the distance.

(Sound of footsteps crunching)

ELISE KINSELLA: Ed, we were walking down a fairly dark, straight patch of road, we heard a noise to our right and looked up. Do you want to explain what we saw?

ED HILL: We just saw a yellow bellied glider just glide right above our heads just across the road and land in a tree. It's really, really lucky to see these animals actually gliding.

ELISE KINSELLA: We're walking back to the car, what's been the final result of tonight's survey? 

ED HILL: It's been a really successful survey. We've recorded 10 yellow-bellied gliders on our transect, which is fantastic. That's enough to get this area of forest protected.

ELISE KINSELLA: Environmentalists want to see Victoria's Environment Minister Lisa Neville hand over responsibility for these ecological surveys to an independent body, not VicForests.

They argue the logging body simply isn't doing a good enough job.

The ABC asked Ms Neville how much confidence she has that VicForests isn't logging protected species and habitat, after the discovery of 15 greater gliders in a separate section of forest. 

She replied with this statement: 

LISA NEVILLE'S STATEMENT: The Government is disappointed to see that rare and threatened species may have been impacted by the harvesting operations in question, if this community generated information had not been made available. We are currently working to ensure that in the future we are guided by the best available data, which will help improve decision making.

ELISE KINSELLA: VicForests communications manager, David Walsh, says the logger will also be changing how it surveys forest.

DAVID WALSH: Look, VicForests wouldn't have found them ourselves in that particular site and as a result of that type of occurrence and information coming to us, we're now reviewing our overall approach to targeted pre-harvest fauna surveys for species like greater gliders.

ELISE KINSELLA: He says his organisation will consider any information it's given about the survey for the yellow bellied glider. 


MICHAEL BRISSENDEN: Elise Kinsella with that report.

Goongerah Environment Centre threatened with trespassing prosecution after revealing Errinundra Plateau rainforest clearing

ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 19 May 2015 

Members of an environment group who revealed evidence of rainforest clearing in East Gippsland, in south-east Victoria, have been threatened with prosecution.

After being tipped off by the Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO), the Department of Environment found VicForests had needlessly destroyed rainforest canopy on the Errinundra Plateau.

The state forestry compliance officer has now threatened to prosecute members of GECO for trespassing in the disputed logging coupes.

Ed Hill from GECO said he was shocked by the threats.

"Quite frankly we're disgusted that the Government would threaten to prosecute community members for getting out there and basically doing the work that the Government is meant to be doing and holding VicForests accountable to state laws that protect unique environmental values, like rainforest," he said.

Mr Hill said he had asked for Environment Minister Lisa Neville to intervene.

"She had a scathing assessment of the rainforest logging and on VicForests and their conduct in that operation, so we're really surprised that the Government wants to take further steps to prosecute community members for the work they're meant to be doing," he said.

The Environment Minister has referred the ABC's enquiry to another Government department.

Victorian state emblem Leadbeater's possum pushed closer to extinction

Tom Arup
The Age, 16/4/15

Victoria's state animal emblem, the Leadbeater's possum, is set to be formally recognised as being on the brink of extinction, leading to the Andrews government fast-tracking a program to identify more colonies of the species.

On the way out: A Leadbeater's possum. Photo: Ken Irwin

But the state government has again stopped short of backing a new national park to protect the Leadbeater's habitat, which conservationists and many scientists say is crucial to ensuring the species' survival.

Environment Minister Lisa Neville on Thursday announced measures to find more Leadbeater's through surveys, including infrared aerial mapping of habitat and remote camera surveys in planned logging areas.

It is understood federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt will declare next week that the Leadbeater's formal national threatened species status has deteriorated from "endangered" to "critically endangered", considered the last step before extinction in the wild.

There is no accurate estimate of how many Leadbeater's possums still live in the wild, though government modelling has previously put the range between 4000 and 10,000 with large caveats.

Concern for the species' survival soared after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires destroyed 45 per cent of its primary habitat in the state's central highland forests, north-east of Melbourne. Conservationists say continued logging of the species' habitat has further increased the pressure.

Hope grew among some environmentalists this week that the impending federal decision on the Leadbeater's conservation status might see the state government give some form of public support for a new national park.

Numerous conservationists and scientists – including Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall – have supported a campaign to set up the "Great Forest National Park" in the region, which would encompass much of the highlands forest.

But the area is also one of the state's primary native forest logging areas.

During last year's state election campaign Labor had been expected to support a new national park in some way, but reportedly dumped the policy at the behest the CFMEU, which represents forestry workers.

Instead the Andrews government promised to establish a taskforce of industry, unions and green groups to reach common ground on issues facing forestry, including jobs, economic activity and environmental protection. Ms Neville said the relevant groups were now working on how the taskforce will operate.

"We will consider any reasonable proposals reached by consensus through the industry taskforce regarding the establishment of any new national parks," Ms Neville said.

The new survey program includes fast-tracking targeted searches to identify new Leadbeater's colonies, remote camera surveys by the state-owned timber company VicForests in forest to be cut down, and aerial surveys to identify possum habitat. The state government will also purchase and loan equipment for community surveys.

The surveys follow recommendations by a previous advisory panel, which was led by industry and Zoos Victoria and established by the Napthine government. The Andrews government says it is implementing the panel's recommendations, which did not include a new park and were criticised as being ineffective for the species' survival by environmentalists.

Australian National University ecologist, Professor David Lindenmayer, said: "This is not even Band-Aid stuff. We are dealing with a critically endangered animal in a critically endangered ecosystem. It needs real measures."

Campaigner from MyEnvironment Sarah Rees said the latest survey measures were dangerously close to status quo, "which is what is leading this animal to extinction."

"What we need is an improved reserve design, being the Great Forest National Park, to stop extinction, not a bunch of cameras, a search for habitat that does not exist and an expectation that the community will do the work of paid government personnel," she said.