Threatened species or extinct industries?

The TSSC’s over-reliance on the input of a scientist so obviously conflicted by a personal agenda raises concerns about whether its Conservation Advice was even based on the full suite of factual knowledge about the possum.This is reflected in its recommendation to the Federal Government that “the most effective way to prevent further decline and rebuild the population of LBP is to cease timber harvesting.”  Despite no justification being given for such a conclusion, it mirrors the long-adopted stance of its leading source scientist and the environmental activist campaigns which he is effectively representing.

Barnaby Joyce justified his call for a review of the conservation status of Leadbeater’s Possum primarily on the basis of recent evidence that the possum is far more plentiful than was previously thought. Despite the bulk of recent surveying occurring outside the best possum habitat, the adoption of an improved survey methodology and greater survey intensity has led to over 500 new possum colonies being detected (with a minimum of 3 individuals per colony) within the past two years. This dwarfs the previous rate of new colony detection of less than 10 per year from 1998 to 2014.

Further to this, active conservation strategies jointly funded and facilitated by VicForests and the Victorian Department of Environment have successfully supplemented Leadbeaters Possum habitat since 2014. As of late 2016, 37 of 72 artificially-created tree hollows were occupied by the possum, while 53% of 493 installed nest boxes were showing signs of occupancy. This is at odds with Professor Lindenmayer and his cohorts who have previously dismissed nest boxes and artificially-created tree hollows as ineffective in relation to Leadbeaters Possum conservation.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, just days ago on ABC television, Professor Lindenmayer said that only 2000 possums remained and that the species would be extinct in just 20-years. If this is indeed the case despite most of the possum’s preferred habitat being already reserved, he needs to explain how reserving the remaining minor area of potential future habitat in a new national park will do anything to save it.

If Australia is to maintain rural industries such as forestry and mining, or even some forms of farming, there is a need for Governments to be far more careful in accepting conservation advice without question. A good start would be to include land management and/or resource industry practitioners in the process of determining threatened species status. This would at least ensure that its Threatened Species Scientific Committee was fully aware of the true extent and nature of resource uses and their practices and management, rather than just relying on arms-length observations and poorly informed opinions.