Possum needs room to roam

A 10CM-LONG marsupial needs more room in the wild to avoid being declared extinct.

A 10CM-LONG marsupial thought lost to the world in 1939 only to be rediscovered 22 years later needs more room in the wild to avoid being declared extinct a second time.

A progress report was released at the weekend into efforts to save Leadbeater's possum in the wake of Victoria's February 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, which halved the population of the tiny marsupial to only 1500.

The nocturnal and rarely seen possum, which is Victoria's fauna emblem, was believed to be extinct after the 1939 Black Friday bushfires, but was rediscovered in 1961.

A reserve system was established in 2008 as part of the strategy for saving the species.

But a new report into biodiversity in Victoria, published by the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, says modelling shows the reserve system alone "is insufficient to ensure the long-term conservation of the species".

Thus "additional management actions need to be considered", including alternative methods of forestry management, or protecting additional areas of suitable habitat.

The report said more than 54,000ha of Leadbeater's possum habitat would be needed to reduce the risk of the population falling below 500 females -- considered the minimum for species survival.

The present reserve total is 43,500ha. This would need to be boosted, according to the new report, by 25 per cent.

The research will be used by the Leadbeater's Possum Advisory Group, which was recently established by the Victorian government, to refine its survival strategy.

The group includes a broad range of expertise and is convened jointly by Zoos Victoria and the Victorian Association of Forest Industries.

Victorian Environment Minister Ryan Smith said under the government's new approach "all stakeholders will be asked to share their knowledge and views to ensure a co-ordinated approach."

Publication of the 65-page report on endangered species is set to test this strategy, requiring new thinking on managing threatened fauna, especially in timber harvesting areas.