RESUMPTION of logging in Bulga State Forest north of Taree appears imminent, with Forestry Corporation again closing the forest to the public.

Logging was halted there earlier this year in two coupes after sustained pressure from activists and Save Bulga Forest.

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Conservationist Sharyn O’Dell said Forestry Corporation had consulted no-one and did not want anyone to see the damage being done to the heads of the catchments of the Hastings and Manning Rivers.

A Forestry Corporation spokesman confirmed the forest was closed for planning a logging operation and ecologists were working there.

“And the ecologists are always first in.”

Save Bulga Forest has written letters to both the Environment and Forestry ministers seeking clarification of what Forestry Corporation’s plans are in the forest.

The organisation has had no reply.

“The logging will cause major damage and likely lead to the deaths of koalas and greater gliders, both endangered and both known to be living in the area,” said Ms O’Dell.

“The government’s logging company says logging doesn’t harm koalas or gliders, but they are the only ones that believe that spin,” she said.

“These animals are social creatures, they live in colonies, have communities, have favourite hang-outs, have home ranges, have special trees for particular flavours of leaves.”

Greater gliders are similar to koalas in that they both have a diet consisting exclusively of gum leaves.

They are both quite slow and are mainly active at night when they move around to feed.

Greater gliders use multiple tree hollows in any given area.

“They don’t just need one, they sometimes use more than a dozen, depending on the season and what food trees are available nearby,” said Ms O’Dell.

“They also need landing trees that make pathways for them as they glide through the forest.”

“It’s been known for decades that yellow-bellied and greater gliders need old forest, and that they have pretty much disappeared from the regrowth forests,” she said.

“Taking out most of the trees in the forest they use will see an area that is a known stronghold for both of these unique creatures become degraded and fireprone, like much of the region’s forests.

“We’ve recently done some citizen-science surveys in this area of Bulga Forest. We found koalas and evidence of breeding koalas, which you can tell because of the different scat sizes.

“We also saw greater gliders, quite a few. From what we are hearing from colleagues, the Bulga population of greater gliders could be one of the largest in the region,” she said.

“That’s the problem, governments haven’t invested in trying to establish how many animals actually remain.

“The greater glider is endangered because 80 percent of its population has died out in the last 20 years. [1] That’s drastic. We all need to do something about it.

“We’re particularly worried about logging resuming now, because the female gliders will have their young in their pouches. Most of the newborns stay in the pouches over winter and come out in the spring.

“Those mumma gliders don’t need the stress of trees falling around them and their flight paths and homes disappearing,” said Ms O’Dell.

“Bulga Forest should be protected for greater gliders alone, apart from all the other animals that live there, the water it sends down into the rivers, the carbon in the trees, so many reasons.

“We’ll do what we can to save these critters. Someone needs to speak for them,” Ms O’Dell said.

Forestry Corporation said there were 5,000 to 10,000 jobs in regional NSW linked to logging, in sawmills and in forests.

A spokesperson said given recent activity in Newry State Forest, it was clear activists were moving from site to site and some were definitely being paid to stop logging anyway they could.