Illegal Logging Exposed: Greater Glider Habitat at Risk in NSW’s Styx State Forest
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW, South East Forest Rescue (SEFR), and the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) have today revealed that the Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) has apparently been logging public forests without conducting the legally required surveys to protect endangered wildlife like the greater glider and koala.
Community checks in the Styx State Forest, nestled in northern NSW, have exposed what conservationists are calling a clear breach of the rules: logging has already occurred despite no valid Broad Area Habitat Search (BAHS) having been completed in the required six-month window before operations began.
Under the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA), FCNSW must conduct these habitat surveys to identify and protect critical features—including nesting hollows and foraging zones used by threatened species.
But according to new data, survey coverage in 2025 has dropped dramatically compared to 2024, with glaring gaps in assessment.
“Logging without proper habitat surveys is not just irresponsible—it’s illegal,” said Jacqui Mumford, CEO of the Nature Conservation Council NSW. “Forestry Corporation is entrusted with managing our public forests sustainably. Instead, they are putting vulnerable species and ecosystems at risk by cutting corners.”
This isn’t a bureaucratic box left unchecked—it’s a matter of life and death for the endangered greater glider, whose numbers have crashed by up to 80%, and for koalas who rely on these forests for food and shelter. If the loggers miss den trees, those hollows are lost forever—along with the families inside them.
The livestream project in Tallaganda recently showed how essential these tree hollows are. There, in a private forest safe from chainsaws, a male glider named Milo was seen using his tail to carry eucalyptus leaves to feed his joey Brimi—a behaviour never before documented. It offered not only a rare scientific insight but a gentle reminder that these creatures have rich, unseen family lives that depend on ancient trees.
In Styx State Forest, such moments may never have a chance to unfold.
Maps from the 2025 BAHS effort suggest the surveys, if they occurred at all, were slapdash and incomplete—clearly failing to meet the precautionary requirements laid out in CIFOA. Even worse, activists fear this could be just the beginning, as two more logging compartments nearby also show alarmingly inadequate survey data. While those areas have yet to be logged, the same cut-and-run pattern appears to be emerging.
Images showing the reduced survey effort in three logging compartments in 2024 and 2025
Images showing the reduced survey effort in three logging compartments in 2024 and 2025
This latest breach follows a landmark High Court decision in Forestry Corporation of NSW v South East Forest Rescue, where the court ruled that community and environmental groups have the right to take legal action against breaches of logging laws. The case was triggered by SEFR uncovering that FCNSW had been conducting so-called “surveys” for nocturnal animals like the greater glider during the daytime—yes, you read that right.
“This ruling is a game-changer,” said Scott Daines of South East Forest Rescue. “It confirms that communities have the legal standing to hold Forestry Corporation accountable when the government fails to act. The situation in the Styx State Forest is exactly the kind of breach this ruling was meant to highlight.”
Calls are now mounting for the NSW Environment Protection Authority to step in and investigate. Activists want the EPA to enforce compliance with CIFOA, especially the requirement under Condition 57 that mandates proper habitat searches.
At the heart of this growing scandal is a simple but urgent question: If these laws aren’t being followed, who exactly is protecting our endangered wildlife?
With greater gliders, koalas, and other forest dwellers already clinging to survival, time is running out—and the watchdogs may need to grow teeth. As conservation groups ramp up legal and grassroots pressure, one thing is clear: ignoring habitat laws is no longer something the Forestry Corporation can do in the shadows.
Thanks to livestreams, High Court wins, and passionate community watchdogs, the forests—and their creatures—have witnesses now.
Fresh from capturing global hearts with an intimate livestream of a greater glider family (see our earlier story here), Australia’s beloved nocturnal fluffballs are once again in the spotlight—this time for all the wrong reasons.
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