The Environment Protection Authority has issued Forestry Corporation a Stop Work Order for forestry operations in Tallaganda State Forest. Source: Timberbiz
Following a community complaint, EPA officers inspected several active logging compartments in Tallaganda on Tuesday 30 August and located a deceased Southern Greater Glider around 50 metres from forestry harvest operations. It is not yet known how the glider died.
EPA Acting Executive Director Operations, Steve Orr said the discovery of a deceased glider was extremely concerning given their increased reliance on unburnt areas of the forest following the 2019/20 bushfires and its proximity to active harvest operations.
“Southern Greater Gliders are an endangered species and shelter in multiple tree cavities, known as ‘den trees’, over large distances,” Mr Orr said.
The Forestry Corporation in a statement said that protecting Greater Glider habitat was crucial, and that it had spent many months preparing for these operations through intensive pre-harvest surveys to identify and map sensitive habitat and ecological features.
“During the harvesting operation Forestry Corporation ensures the habitat for gliders such as hollow bearing trees and retention clumps are protected,” the statement said.
“Forestry Corporation is fully complying with the Stop Work Order and its compliance team is on site investigating.
“We are fully committed to investigating what has occurred and finding out what the circumstances are around the greater glider found dead in the forest.”
Forestry Corporation monitored Greater Glider populations in Tallaganda State Forest and has completed more than 40 kilometres of spotlight transects and identified almost 400 greater gliders across the whole forest.
The Greater Gliders are occupying the range of forest landscapes across Tallaganda – areas affected by the 2019-20 bushfires and the unburnt forest, plus areas of forest which are unharvested and areas which have previously been harvested for timber.
