WOTCH have detected a critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum in an active logging coupe (480-509-0013 ‘Desilijic') recently. The habitat just 100m away had already been clearfelled – well within the buffer zone triggered by this Leadbeater’s Possum detection.
WOTCH - a member group of Friends of the Earth Australia - is yet to receive any response (other than a generic receipt email) from DELWP or VicForests regarding this clearfelling of critically endangered species habitat. At the time of writing, WOTCH have had no communication that logging has ceased in 'Desilijic' coupe.
Sadly, pre-harvesting surveys failed to detect Leadbeater’s Possum in this location despite previous records of Leadbeater’s Possum and Smoky Mouse in the same patch of forest, highlighting the need for more extensive pre-harvest surveying in logging coupes.
On top of this, the slow response to WOTCH's report – which exposes logging of important Leadbeater’s Possum and Smoky Mouse habitat in Melbourne’s water catchment – is extremely disheartening.