Logging of endangered Greater Glider hotspot in Mogo State Forest
Parts of Mogo State Forest could soon be logged despite ten endangered greater gliders being found by infrared drone in this forest earlier this year.
On Sunday 18 August locals joined NSW Senator David Shoebridge and Eurobodalla Greens Council candidates to demand this forest be protected.
The spotted gum forest between Maulbrooks Road, Mogendoura and North Moruya is on the chopping block. The logging operation encompasses compartments 197-200 of Mogo State Forest.
Infrared drone surveys this year found a greater glider hotspot with over 10 gliders in unburnt tall forest on the corner of Larrys Mountain Road and Maulbrooks Road. A map provided by Forestry Corporation NSW to neighbouring residents shows two of these greater glider sightings are in forest to be logged.
An accompanying letter stated logging would start in July 2024. Featuring permanent water, locals have sited platypus prior to the fires and an incredible 62m tall spotted gum with a seven metre circumference grows in this greater glider hotspot.
Forest conservationist and Eurobodalla Greens Council candidate Joslyn van der Moolen has already found another greater glider emerging from a hollow, requiring a 100 metre circle of protection around this tree.
“This greater glider den tree, is in Mogo State forest and is mapped to be logged. It is essential for this forest, be kept standing to protect wildlife that survived the fires. Instead these big old trees, will be cut down mainly for low value export woodchips, firewood and pallets made at the Narooma mill” said Joslyn van der Moolen.
“Residents will face increased fire risk from logging debris as the entire treetop (> 60%) is left as waste. Logging machinery caterpillar treads, will churn up vegetation over hundreds of hectares, snigging tracks will be bulldozed throughout the forest and multiple logging dumps totally cleared. I have observed much of the logging in southern NSW is done by Forestry NSW contracted Victorian harvesters, sniggers and truck drivers” said Joslyn.
“We celebrate the opening of 70 kilometres of the Mogo Mountain Trails Network by announcing we will work within the key stakeholder, the Council, to protect this forest from logging” Colleen Turner, lead Greens Eurobodalla Councillor said.
“When elected I will ask council staff to map the 4,000 hectares of state forest around the Mogo Mountain Bike Trails Network and Narooma trails. Then I will move a motion for the Council to vote on, to write to Michael Holland to insist these 4,000 hectares to be protected from logging, by being designated as a Forest Preserved Area by Forestry Corporation NSW.” Colleen Turner said.
Nature based tourism is our main economic driver with mountain biking in state forests a successful emerging industry. Since the fires local mountain bike trails located in state forests have had $8 million invested in Mogo and $8 million near Narooma.
This investment has already attracted the prestigious international Sea Otter event to be held in Mogo State Forest in October 2025 for the first time in the southern hemisphere. Despite this infrastructure investment and event planning the state forest mountain bike trails are not protected from logging. We need to protect these state forests to safeguard this investment and provide certainty to the industry so these mountain bike trails are not logged in the future. Without protection these forests will be closed for months and months for logging and tracks damaged.
“This permanent protection of the state forests, the Eurobodalla Mountain Bike Trails are in, is on top of the Greens priority list. We are working at local government, state and federal levels to protect forests by ending native forest logging. We call on the industry to focus 100% on plantations on marginal cleared land that already provides over 90% of construction timber, thousands of sawmilling jobs and generates a profit.” said Joslyn van der Moolen,
For more information visit Council’s Mogo Trails webpage. The Mogo Trails project has relied heavily on collaboration with Forestry Corporation NSW and was made possible thanks to $5 million from the Australian and NSW Governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund and $3 million from the NSW Government’s Growing Local Economies Fund.