Locals banded together to form Save Bulga Forest earlier in 2023, pressuring Forestry Corporation to halt logging until after the state election. Forestry Corp moved their logging operation to the nearby Yarratt State Forest.
The resumption of logging in Bulga State Forest north of Taree appears to be imminent with the Forestry Corporation again closing the forest to the public.
The logging will cause major damage and likely lead to the deaths of Koalas and Greater Gliders, both endangered and both known to be living in the area.
The greater glider was added to Australia’s list of endangered wildlife in July 2022, having previously been listed as vulnerable.
Without old growth forests and the hollows found in those established trees to call home, greater gliders cannot survive. Tree hollows essential to greater glider survival can take more than 100 years to form.
Greater gliders are listed as Endangered (pdf) as their overall rate of population decline exceeded 50 percent over a 21-year (three generation) period, including population reduction and habitat destruction following the 2019–20 bushfires.
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“The Government’s logging company says logging doesn’t harm Koalas or Gliders, but they are the only ones that believe that spin.
These animals are social creatures, they live in colonies, have communities, have favourite hang-outs, have home ranges, have special trees for particular flavours of leaves.
Greater Gliders are very similar to Koalas in that they both have a diet made up exclusively of gum leaves. So they both are quite slow and are mainly active at night when they move around to feed. Greater Gliders use multiple tree hollows in any given area.
They don’t just need one, they sometimes use more than a dozen, depending on the season and what food trees are available nearby. They also need landing trees that make pathways for them as they glide through the forest”
Bulga Forest local conservationist Sharyn O’Dell.
The loss-making, taxpayer funded Forestry Corporation announced the partial closure of Bulga State Forest between 10 July 2023 – 1 Jan 2024.
Left: Endangered Greater Glider in Bulga Forest, supplied photo taken in May 2023 by members of Save Bulga Forest.
One of the main consequences of native forest logging on fauna habitat is the loss of hollow bearing trees. These trees have high ecological value because the hollows and cavities in the trees may be used as shelter and nesting sites by native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs.
Tree hollows are critical to the survival (pdf) and reproduction of the hollow-using mammals, whereas they are most critical for breeding by hollow-using birds.
The mammals and the birds that require tree hollows are particularly dependent because with few exceptions, they do not use alternative sites.
Greater gliders choose den trees that are larger and taller than average and have up to 20 dens.
“It’s been known for decades that Yellow-bellied and Greater Gliders need old forest, and that they have pretty much disappeared from the regrowth forests.
“Taking out most of the trees in the forest they use, will see an area that is a known stronghold for both of these unique creatures become degraded and fire prone like much of the region’s forests.
“We’ve recently done some citizen science surveys in this area of Bulga Forest. We found Koalas and evidence of breeding koalas, which you can tell because of the different scat sizes.
“We also saw Greater Gliders, quite a few. From what we are hearing from colleagues, the Bulga population of Greater Gliders could be one of the largest in the region.
“That’s the problem, governments haven’t invested in trying to establish how many animals actually remain. The Greater Glider is endangered because 80% of its population has died out over the last 20 years. That’s drastic. We all need to do something about it.
“We’re particularly worried about logging resuming now, because the female gliders will have their young in their pouches. Most of the newborns stay in the pouches over winter and come out in the spring. Those mumma gliders don’t need the stress of trees falling around them and their flight paths and homes disappearing.
“Bulga Forest should be protected for Greater Gliders alone, apart from all the other animals that live there, the water it sends down into the rivers, the carbon in the trees. So many reasons. We’ll do what we can to save these critters. Someone needs to speak for them,”
“We’ve written to the NSW Ministers for Environment and Forestry and are awaiting responses.”
Ms O’Dell said.
Greater gliders can glide up to 100 metres!
Forestry Corporation has an aversion to transparency. They don’t consult on their logging plans and they certainly don’t want people seeing the damage being done to the heads of the catchments of the Hastings and Manning Rivers.
Two areas within Bulga State Forest closed for logging by Forestry Corp from 10 July 2023 until 1 January 2024.
Follow the Save the Bulga Forest campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Web
See also: NSW Forestry Corp have a fight on their hands to Save Bulga Forest
Midcoast Council Votes to Save Bulga Forest on Biripi Country
Lola Koala’s tree-sit in Bulga Forest continues a tradition of forest protest
Forest defenders and climate activists arrested in Bulga State Forest
Locals protest NSW Forestry logging in Bulga Forest
Flawed habitat maps could derail government plans to save the Koala
Knitting Nanna blocks saw mill & stops logging trucks
