Banking on seeds to help save endangered possum

Conservationists are battling to save the endangered Leadbeater's possum. (Supplied/AAP PHOTOS)

A battle to save a critically endangered possum is being fought on many fronts and multiple timelines.

Victoria's Leadbeater's possum, known as "forest fairies" for their elusiveness, were thought to be extinct when they were rediscovered near Marysville in 1961.

The state's faunal emblem, with its big eyes and bushy tail, relies on dense, damp areas in old growth forest and nests in hollows that take over 150 years to form.

Less than 40 of the lowland subspecies exist today in a tract of the Yellingbo Forest, east of Melbourne, after most of its habitat was lost to logging and development.

Leadbeater's possum
The Leadbeater's possum, with its big eyes and bushy tail, is Victoria's faunal emblem.

But a project spearheaded by state-owned statutory authority Melbourne Water aims to grow the creature's future habitat through a climate-modelled seed bank.

The seeds have been collected from areas with climatic conditions similar to what is expected for the Yarra Valley in the next 25 to 65 years.

The sources span from forests in Gippsland, in Victoria's southeast, to Wyong, north of Sydney.

“We know that to save the lowland Leadbeater’s possum from extinction, we need to protect and expand its habitat by growing forests that will be resilient to hotter, drier climates,” Melbourne Water partnership coordinator Kacie Melfi said.

Six species of native trees were shortlisted to help shore-up future habitat for the Leadbeater's possum.

Melbourne Water is working with Zoos Victoria and Victoria's Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action to identify land that could provide future habitat for the species.

A collaboration between Zoos Victoria and Monash University focuses on the creature's gene pool to assure its survival.

The organisations have successfully bred a hybrid of the highland Leadbeater's subspecies with its lowland counterpart in captivity, to help stem the inbreeding depression in the latter variety.

"We've got 39 (lowland) individuals left in the wild; that's just nine breeding pairs," Zoos Victoria field officer Arabella Eyre told AAP.

"We're really excited that we've recently produced our first hybrid joey."

Previous attempts to move the highland Leadbeater's possums from their ash forest and sub-alpine woodlands habitat in Victoria's Central Highlands into lowlands populations haven't been successful.

"That's why testing in captivity and having the ability to test that mixing in a controlled environment is really important for us," Ms Eyre said.

Another key feature of the conservation program is to temporarily house juveniles, who can be lost to predators like cats or by wandering into unsuitable habitat.

"The problem being a possum is when you hit your teenage years and it's time to go find a mate, there's not that many options left in the wild," Ms Eyre said.

"We're able to collect those sub adults just before they disperse, take them back to Healesville sanctuary and kind of play possum matchmaker and then re-release them into the wild."

Leadbeater's possum field work
Conservationists are working to temporarily house juvenile Leadbeater's possums.

Habitat loss remains a major challenge.

"We've cleared over 90 per cent of lowland Leadbeater's habitat; they were originally distributed all the way down to Koo Wee Rup and the Bass River, and now only in this single reserve," Ms Eyre said.

"The story of the possum's decline is really a story of the loss of habitat."

While Victoria's environment department was a partner in conservation efforts like the seed bank project, its Forest Fire Management Victoria branch was levelling thousands of hectares for strategic fire breaks, forest ecology expert David Lindenmayer said.

"This is in complete conflict with other really important, direct things that we could do right now, like not knock the animals' nest trees down that are 300 or 400 years old, that are going to take centuries to regrow," he told AAP.

"One part of the department is not talking to the other part of the department."

Victoria banned commercial native logging in January but a dead endangered greater glider possum found near fire break works in the Yarra Ranges National Park in May reignited debate over the state's forests.

"The reality is there's 18,000 hectares of forest that hasn't regenerated (after commercial logging), and we're knocking down 300 year old trees for firebreaks that don't work," Professor Lindenmayer said.

He said research had shown for more than a decade that logged forests became more fire-prone.

But the department argues fuel breaks retained far more trees and couldn't be compared to disused logging coupes.

According to Forest Fire Management Victoria, asset protection fire breaks protect towns and public assets, while landscape protection breaks give firefighters access to blazes in the bush and to back-burn.

The organisation has established 1447km of fuel breaks, between 20m and 40m wide across Victoria, and has funding to extend to 6000km of breaks by 2030.

Bulldozer puts in fire break
Fire breaks are a common tool used to make it easier to fight bushfires.

Forest Fire Management Victoria chief fire officer Chris Hardman said regeneration and fire breaks were a proven and effective tool against bushfires.

“In the Upper Yarra catchment, fuel breaks help us keep bushfires small and therefore protect communities, assets such as Melbourne’s main water supply, and the environment – including protecting the habitat of the vulnerable population of Leadbeater’s possum from bushfires," Mr Hardman said in a statement.

Forest Fire Management Victoria maps show no new strategic breaks are planned within 34 kilometres of Yellingbo Forest, and no felling is occurring on seed bank sites in the Yarra Valley.

Prof Lindenmayer felt his warnings about the Leadbeater's possum habitat, which went back to his doctoral thesis in 1989, were falling on deaf ears.

"We're knocking down 300 year old trees," he said.

"It's going to be the year 2300 by the time we get them back again."

License this article

What is AAPNews?

For the first time, Australian Associated Press is delivering news straight to the consumer.

No ads. No spin. News straight-up.

Not only do you get to enjoy high-quality news delivered straight to your desktop or device, you do so in the knowledge you are supporting media diversity in Australia.

AAP Is Australia’s only independent newswire service, free from political and commercial influence, producing fact-based public interest journalism across a range of topics including politics, courts, sport, finance and entertainment.

What is AAPNews?
The Morning Wire

Wake up to AAPNews’ morning news bulletin delivered straight to your inbox or mobile device, bringing you up to speed with all that has happened overnight at home and abroad, as well as setting you up what the day has in store.

AAPNews Morning Wire
AAPNews Breaking News
Breaking News

Be the first to know when major breaking news happens.


Notifications will be sent to your device whenever a big story breaks, ensuring you are never in the dark when the talking points happen.

Focused Content

Enjoy the best of AAP’s specialised Topics in Focus. AAP has reporters dedicated to bringing you hard news and feature content across a range of specialised topics including Environment, Agriculture, Future Economies, Arts and Refugee Issues.

AAPNews Focussed Content
Subscription Plans

Choose the plan that best fits your needs. AAPNews offers two basic subscriptions, all billed monthly.

Once you sign up, you will have seven days to test out the service before being billed.

AAPNews Full Access Plan
Full Access
AU$10
  • Enjoy all that AAPNews has to offer
  • Access to breaking news notifications and bulletins
  • Includes access to all AAPNews’ specialised topics
Join Now
AAPNews Student Access Plan
Student Access
AU$5
  • Gain access via a verified student email account
  • Enjoy all the benefits of the ‘Full Access’ plan at a reduced rate
  • Subscription renews each month
Join Now
AAPNews Annual Access Plan
Annual Access
AU$99
  • All the benefits of the 'Full Access' subscription at a discounted rate
  • Subscription automatically renews after 12 months
Join Now

AAPNews also offers enterprise deals for businesses so you can provide an AAPNews account for your team, organisation or customers. Click here to contact AAP to sign-up your business today.

SEVEN DAYS FREE
Download the app
Download AAPNews on the App StoreDownload AAPNews on the Google Play Store