50 night search in Aussie forest uncovers worrying find: 'Good chance they'll die'
Conservationists are concerned about the future of a population of rare native mammals living in an Australian national park. That's because endangered greater gliders are occupying the same forest that the NSW government's timber harvest company is logging for hardwood.
At the time of publication, Forestry Corporation NSW had recorded just four occupied nesting hollows, known as dens, in two compartments within the Styx River State Forest that are subject to logging. While volunteers walking through the forests at night found 38 in the same areas.
Scott Mackenzie from South East Forest Rescue was tired as he spoke to Yahoo News Australia this week. He's spent around 50 nights searching through quiet bushland for gliders, then going to work the next day.
'These surveys have a big impact on my life. But what do people want to achieve in their lives? What I'd like to achieve is an endangered species being saved,' he told Yahoo News.
'It's frustrating having to go out there. But what's heartbreaking is that if I can't find those greater gliders, there's a good chance they'll die.'
When greater glider dens are discovered, timber harvesters are required by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to set a 50-metre exclusion zone around the tree, limiting the amount of timber that can be felled. However, independent research funded by World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia (WWF) suggests this is far from adequate to meet the habitat needs of the species.
NSW Forestry Corporation told Yahoo News it's protecting more than 3,300 individual trees, including 2,600 with hollows at compartments 38 and 42, which were subject to the survey disparity, and the adjoining compartment 41 where it's located another glider den.
A spokesperson for the company said it meets the regulatory requirements related to surveying for greater gliders before harvesting trees. These surveys now include a new requirement introduced by the EPA that searches for the nocturnal marsupials must be undertaken at night. Prior to this, Forestry Corporation often looked for them during the day when they were known to be hidden away in dens.
'Harvesting plans have been prepared in line with the regulations. Forestry Corporation's trained ecologists have completed nocturnal surveys for gliders and dens in line with the requirements and applied exclusion zones,' a spokesperson for the harvester said.
'Information provided by third parties has also been considered and additional precautionary exclusion zones [have] been established.'
The Nature Conservation Council, a non-profit that advocates for environment protection in NSW, has accused Forestry Corporation of 'cutting corners' when it comes to glider surveys, which it argues are open to interpretation by harvesters.
Its assessment of Forestry Corporation's surveys shows a significant reduction in efforts in 2025 compared to 2024, which it says raises 'serious concerns' about the adequacy of habitat assessments.
'Forestry Corporation is entrusted with managing our public forests sustainably. Instead, they are putting vulnerable species and ecosystems at risk by cutting corners,' its CEO Jacqui Mumford said.
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Greater glider numbers have plummeted due to habitat destruction and bushfires. Volunteers like Mackenzie say they have no option but to continue to survey the area themselves because of their lack of confidence in government.
'These animals have gone from being commonplace 20 years ago to now being endangered, and on a very steep slide towards extinction. And still, forestry is attacking these rare habitats where there's high density,' he said.
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