Eurobodalla coalition protests after EPA changes glider protections

Meeting at the Forestry Corporation steps in Batemans Bay on Monday morning, February 5, the conservationists formed a coalition to rally against the changes.

The greater glider is endangered and groups including Knitting Nannas South Coast Loop, Friends of the Forest (Mogo), South-East Forest Rescue and Brooman State Forest Conservation accuse the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) of reckless changes, making it easier for the state's Forestry Corporation to log forests.

Deb Cleland from Friends of the Forest said the Eurobodalla conservationists were shocked by the sudden changes.

"Now we can expect to find dead gliders in the logging debris just as the EPA did at Tallaganda," she said.

"Locals spent many long nights spotlighting to find the Greater Glider den trees that now have a 50m radius exclusion zone around each tree.

"We are both exhausted and now devastated."

On Friday, February 2, the EPA released a statement saying the glider will now be better protected and "believe this change strikes the right balance, resulting in significant ecological and regulatory improvement to the current arrangements."

The changes will take effect from February 9. Groups including WWF-Australia hoped the EPA would mandate night-time searches for the glider habitat but the authority has withdrawn the requirement altogether - something they say will ensure the already endangered species extinction.

The South Coast groups say the EPA decision means the responsibility to find the glider habitat, or den trees, falls squarely on community volunteers - a task that is not feasible.

Joslyn van der Moolen from Knitting Nannas for Native Forests said the move is a step backwards.

"The coastal forests of NSW are prime habitat and must be kept standing to protect wildlife," she said.

"Many hollow dependent species are at risk of extinction from the twin perils of bushfires and logging.

"Our forests are worth more as biodiverse carbon storage and for eco-tourism which is our primary industry."

NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the new rules were a step forward in an ongoing process.

"These new rules are an upgrade in protections for greater gliders and protect more habitat than the previous rules," she told AAP.

"The EPA will continue to refine and update protections and work with all stakeholders to do this to ensure that greater gliders survive."