We are committed to researching, monitoring and protecting the habitat of Greater Gliders.
When we harvest timber from native forest we much follow detailed and strict environmental regulations. Operations are selective, an average 40% of every compartment is protected and we mark and protect more than 120,000 individual trees each year. In areas with Greater Glider populations, we search for, mark and protect hollow bearing trees and den trees.
We manage State forests for multiple uses, including renewable timber production, in line with Government policies and regulations. Our operations are highly regulated and completely transparent. We complete a detailed planning process and on average 40% of every compartment is set aside. View our 12-month plan and detailed harvest plans on our Plan Portal.
We have been researching and monitoring Greater Gliders in State forests for decades, including thermal drone trials. A long-term monitoring program has been established to monitor plants and animals in eastern NSW, in partnership with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Natural Resources Commission.
We manage timber harvesting operations in coastal native forest under the conditions of the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA).
The CIFOA:
The CIFOA has precautionary measures to protect trees with hollows in every hectare harvested, whether or not Greater Gliders or other hollow using species are seen in the forest.
In 2024 additional explicit requirements to search for and protect greater gliders and their dens. The conditions are on the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) website
A detailed planning operation takes place before each operation. View our step-by-step explainer to learn more about the process of planning a native forestry operation.
We complete ecology reports are completed before a harvest plan is prepared and include desktop searches as well as field surveys.
We also carry out broad area habitat searches immediately prior to harvesting. These are completed by qualified and trained staff who search throughout the harvesting area to identify and protect environmental features such as drainage lines, threatened plants, trees to be retained, steep slopes, habitat features such as threatened ecological communities, raptor nests, bat roosts or caves, and evidence or records of threatened species.
Dens used by Greater Gliders are in older age class trees with large obvious hollows that have an entrance larger than 20 centimetres in diameter and a large cavity in which to shelter. Trees with these features are identified and marked for protection even if a Greater Glider or other hollow using species is not detected.
In areas with Greater Glider populations we also carry out nocturnal surveys.
On average, 40% of every harvest area is protected.
The CIFOA sets out what protections are required when we identify a Greater Glider, a den tree or a hollow bearing tree. The rules include protecting individual trees and creating exclusion zones around individual trees.
We publish near real time data on each operation that shows the protections that we have put in place. Visit the CIFOA operations map and search for an operation to see more.
We have been monitoring and researching glider populations for many years.
Currently, a broad cross-State Forest monitoring program is underway, detailed Greater Glider post 2019-20 fire monitoring surveys have being completed, and we are collaborating with the Department of the Environment and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to undertake koala, Spotted-tailed Quoll and large forest owl monitoring programs in the Tallaganda area in southern NSW.
A long-term monitoring program has been established to monitor plants and animals in eastern NSW, in partnership with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Natural Resources Commission. Find out more.
In 2024 we also trialled thermal drone technology as a new way to search for Greater Glider dens. Read more about the trials.
An annual plan of operations is published on our Plan Portal indicating where operations are expected to take place in the next 12 months. We have a team of professional staff including planners, ecologists, forest technicians and Aboriginal partnerships liaisons who spend many months completing a comprehensive planning process to develop a detailed plan ahead of each operation. These are also published on our Plan Portal. Find out more about the Plan Portal.