Community activists and the Greens have ramped up pressure on the NSW Government to bring an end to native forest logging, following serious allegations of environmental breaches that threaten the Greater Glider population near Glen Innes.
Greater Gliders are nocturnal marsupials that use a furry gliding membrane extending from its elbows to ankles to glide silently through the forest. Colloquially called Mogwai, or Australia’s version of the Panda, the unique creatures live in hollowed out trees, and have been listed as endangered since 2022.
Joe Sparks, from the Gibraltar Range Resident Action Group, has accused the NSW Forestry Corporation of breaching its Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (IFOA) in Brother State Forest, approximately 50 kilometres east of Glen Innes. Sparks claims that an 80-metre ridge and headwater habitat exclusion zone was deliberately shifted by 200 metres—allowing previously unlogged forest to be harvested to boost timber yield.
Sparks recorded video footage was released showing a Greater Glider perched atop its den tree in the midst of a freshly logged section of forest. Under IFOA regulations, a 50-metre exclusion zone must be established around all identified Greater Glider den trees.
“The NSW Forestry Corporation has been found allegedly logging in breach of its Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (IFOA) by logging Greater Glider habitat in Brother State Forest,” Sparks said.
“Approximately 6 hectares of ridge and head water habitat exclusion [was] damaged by harvesting. The original position of this 80m Ridge and head water habitat exclusion has been moved by 200m,” Sparks said.
Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson has condemned the Forestry Corporation, calling their actions “shocking and tragic”.
“This shocking and tragic video shows what can only be described as the NSW Forestry Corporation violating the conditions within the IFOA and again proving their grossly inadequate surveying of the Brother State Forest, putting the endangered Greater Glider at even greater risk than what is legally permitted,” Higginson said.
“Greater Gliders are threatened with extinction, they are completely forest dependent and cannot survive without old hollow-bearing trees and healthy intact forest.”
Higginson referred the matter to the EPA and demanded a stop-work order during the investigation. The EPA has confirmed that new exclusion zones have been put in place following Mr Sparks reports, but Higginson has asked the Minister, Penny Sharpe, for a stop to all logging in the Brother State Forest until a comprehensive and independent survey for Greater Gliders and other endangered species could be conducted.
“The situation unfolding in Brother State Forest is a clear demonstration that the current system is failing our threatened species and our public forests. It is not sustainable, nor is it acceptable to the people of New South Wales,” she said in her letter to the Minister.
Greens Senator for NSW Mehreen Faruqi, currently campaigning for re-election, has linked these local concerns with a broader national vision, outlining the party’s plan to end native forest logging through substantial Commonwealth funding.
“Ending native forest logging once and for all and restoring them is necessary for our environment, climate and community. Logging native forests is not just unsustainable, it’s untenable,” Senator Faruqi said.
Greens candidate for New England Wendy Wales also backed the national plan and joined others in their concerns about the local Greater Glider population and native logging practices.
“The Australian Greens have promised the NSW Government $140 million dollars of funding per year for the next 20 years, if we are successful in the federal election, as an incentive to stop native forest logging in the state and to create opportunities to transition from this destructive practice.”
“The trees are literally worth more standing,” Wales said.
The Greens say the proposed funding—$2.8 billion over two decades—would support ecological restoration and ensuring a just transition for communities and workers. The Greens say they will pay for this plan by making the big corporations pay more tax.
While the likelihood of the Greens winning the election is very slim, the call to end logging and protect areas like the Brother State Forest may be on the table in a hung parliament scenario.
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