t’s just after 8pm when Jess Lovegrove-Walsh, walking down a pitch-black fire trail through bushland about 100km west of Brisbane, trains her spotlight on a pair of laser-red eyes deep in the canopy.
Equipped with a “gliding membrane” – a loose fold of skin joining their elbows and ankles – the possum-like animal, spanning more than a metre head to tail, spends most nights gliding between trees eating gum leaves. “These animals need trees at least 150 years old; when you log a forest you change it in pretty dramatic ways,” says Prof David Lindenmayer from the Australian National University.Extensive selective logging removes a large proportion of mature, hollow-bearing trees that dozens of species rely on for survival. Their absence also alters the forest’s microclimate, increasing ambient temperatures and the risk of fire, Lindenmayer says.
A spokesperson from the Queensland environment department says 2,550 hectares have already been transferred and the handover of an additional 12,000 hectares will “soon begin”.The department spokesperson told Guardian Australia the government was “progressing further additions to the conservation estate … including consideration of Deongwar state forest”.
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