Victoria National Parks Association calls for Wombat State Forest to be made national parkland

A “population hotspot” of greater gliders may not be safe, some say, unless Wombat Forest is made a national park soon.

Significant sections of greater glider habitat were damaged in the 2019/20 bushfires and in storms last year. Photo: File

The discovery of a “population hotspot” of threatened animals in the state’s north-west has prompted an environmental organisation to call for the stoppage of salvage works and the fast-tracked creation of a national park.

Surveyors involved with the Victoria National Parks Association say they found 40 greater gliders – as well as four koalas and a powerful owl – in Wombat Forest in January.

A significant swath of greater glider habitat was lost in the 2019/20 bushfires and in storms last year.

In June 2021, the state government announced three new national parks, the largest of which entailed joining Lerderderg State Park and much of Wombat State Forest.

VNPA executive director Matt Ruchel said finding such a dense population of the world’s largest gliding marsupial was “thrilling”, but the gliders “wouldn’t be safe until Wombat Forest is a national park”.

“The discovery of a greater glider population hotspot demands that all logging in the area must immediately stop and further investigation be urgently undertaken,” he said.

“The Andrews Government is very keen to promote its conservation track record but a media release announcing a national park doesn’t protect anything if it’s not legislated.”

A greater glider. Photo: Matt Wright

VicForests, in coordination with the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, is currently clearing areas of Wombat Forest hit by storms in 2021.

Animal risk surveys conducted by the organisation in storm-affected areas include potlighting for arboreal mammals, owl call playback, camera trapping, and observation.

A VicForests spokesman said all work consequently undertaken in Wombat Forest had to do with removing debris and hazardous trees.

“No trees are being removed unless they present a hazard or for operational necessity,” he said.

“No clear-felling is occurring in these operations.

“Trees that have fallen to the ground during storm damage are not suitable habitat for Southern Greater Gliders, koalas, or owls.”

A state government spokeswoman said $4 million had been allocated to figure out the new boundaries for the Wombat-Lerderderg National Park, as well as for two new conservation parks and the expansion of other regional parks in Victoria’s Central West.

“Critical work is currently underway by the Surveyor-General to establish the new boundaries for the Wombat-Lerderderg National Park,” she said.

“This is the first step towards the permanent protection of the park through legislation.”

She said the Victorian Conservation Regulator was currently assessing a report received on June 17 to determine any appropriate protection measures for greater gliders in Wombat State Forest, and that timber harvesting had not occurred in areas where the species had been reported.