Australia's greater glider is on a rapid slide towards extinction but its habitat is largely unprotected in Queensland, a new study shows.
Researchers from Griffith University have used cutting-edge technology to map mature forests and identify potential habitat and corridors the imperilled species needs to survive.
They focused on forests that are at least 200 years old because they would have trees with hollows large enough to shelter cat-sized gliders, known for their death-defying treetop leaps.
They found most of the important glider habitat left in Queensland was on privately owned or leased land, or in state forest areas, leaving it vulnerable to logging, clearing and other threats.
It was the same situation when they looked at habitat corridors that allowed the species to move between different patches of forest.
“We identified 88 critical movement pathways for greater gliders in Queensland, most of which we found were outside of existing conservation areas,” Dr Patrick Norman said.
“We also noted that there were a few missing links where targeted restoration of forests to create wildlife corridors would have a particularly positive impact for greater gliders.”
Greater gliders face higher risks of predation or injury when they are forced out of the treetops and onto the ground to reach new locations.
Researchers hope their work will inform Queensland's efforts to help the species, which slipped from threatened to endangered in the space of just six years.
The species was hit hard in the 2019/2020 bushfires, and vast tracts of habitat were lost along Australia's east coast.
WWF-Australia says the fires were merely the most recent calamity, with the species suffering the effects of land clearing and logging.
Conservation group The Great Eastern Ranges funded the study.
“We are working to secure the funding needed to replicate this study in other states, but also to map the important habitat and corridors for animals with different movement needs, such as spotted-tailed quolls,” CEO Gary Howling said.
Greater gliders are the largest marsupial gliders in the world.
Until recently, the Forestry Corporation of NSW was logging the Tallaganda State Forest east of Canberra - one of the few remaining strongholds for the species.
But it has been forced to stop work after a dead glider was found near a harvest site and the Environment Protection Agency expressed serious concerns about the corporation's efforts to identify and retain den trees.
The Forestry Corporation has since revealed it conducted pre-harvest surveys for glider den trees during the day when the nocturnal animals would have been asleep, not moving in and out of the trees they use for shelter.
