Queensland Government to create new Forest Park for endangered Greater Glider

The Queensland Government has announced 54,000 hectares of Greater Glider habitat in South East Queensland state forest will be transitioned to a new natural capital tenure.

The Greater Glider (Petauroides volans) is an iconic marsupial, listed as endangered under both Queensland and national environmental laws. A dedicated park is a strategic step towards protecting this species.

Of the 54,000 hectares, 7,500 hectares are set to be placed into Natural Capital Reserve as a potential strategic advance offset for the critical Borumba Pumped Hydro project.

The state government noted “It’s one of the first steps towards protecting  unique biodiversity, while supporting a strong and sustainable forest and timber industry.”

The action follows the launch of the Queensland Sustainable Timber Industry Framework terms of reference in June 2024, which prioritised growing Queensland’s protected area estate.

The Greater Glider Forest Park areas will expand and link existing but fragmented protected areas, ranging from near Conondale National Park in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland northward through to Cordalba National Park (near Childers) to conserve core greater glider habitat.

Further information:

Work is also underway to streamline the regulatory processes needed to facilitate the transfer of state forests not subject to timber harvest to protected areas under the Nature Conservation Act 1992, and a re-elected Miles Government would introduce legislative amendments to Parliament by the end of the year.

This includes the establishment of ‘Natural Capital Reserves’ to support the transfers.

As a holding tenure, Natural Capital Reserves will allow for the assessment of conservation values, investigation of strategic advanced offset and restoration opportunities, identification and resolution of existing land uses and native title matters before the appropriate final protected area tenure arrangements are determined by the end of 2026.

Native timber harvesting in these areas will no longer be permitted and this will enable the government to consider the most appropriate tenues and uses for this land into the future, including for offsets for government priorities.

This includes 7,500 hectares to be placed into Natural Capital Reserve, as a potential strategic advance offset for the critical Borumba Pumped Hydro project.

This will ensure this area, which is high value glider habitat close to the Borumba Pumped Hydro site, is not subject to native timber harvesting while Queensland Hydro determines whether this area should form part of the offsets put forward for consideration under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

More information on greater gliders can be found here. 

The Queensland Sustainable Timber Industry Framework will be in place by mid-2025 and will be finalised with support from a dedicated stakeholder advisory group.

The Queensland Sustainable Timber Industry Framework Terms of Reference are available online here.