Environmental Advocacy in Central Queensland (EnvA) has warned that Australia’s draft National Recovery Plan for the endangered greater glider risks failing the species unless it prioritises immediate habitat protection — particularly in Central Queensland’s heavily disturbed Bowen Basin.
EnvA says the draft plan relies too heavily on research, monitoring and long-term aspirations, while allowing ongoing destruction of known greater glider habitat from new and expanding coal and gas projects.
EnvA Director, Dr Coral Rowston said:
“Greater gliders are regularly identified in areas targeted for new and expanding fossil fuel developments.
“Coal mining and gas extraction doesn’t just clear habitat — it locks in climate impacts that further threaten greater gliders.
Thousands of hectares of habitat at risk
EnvA’s submission documents at least 19 recent fossil fuel projects in the northern Bowen Basin that would directly impact more than 3,000 hectares of greater glider habitat — in a region already heavily fragmented by mining and agriculture.
Despite this, much of the evidence of inland greater glider populations remains buried in consultant reports prepared for development approvals and is not reflected in published research or conservation planning.
“Consultants continue to find greater gliders during surveys for mining projects, but instead of protecting these populations, the system allows them to be cleared and then replaced with offsets that take decades to regenerate — if they work at all.”
Offsets ‘not a solution’
The submission raises serious concerns about the reliance on biodiversity offsets, noting that the draft recovery plan itself acknowledges it can take 40 years for offset vegetation to mature, even under ideal conditions.
EnvA points to ongoing biodiversity decline in Queensland since offsets were introduced in 2014, and notes that even the former Federal Environment Minister admitted in 2023 that current offset arrangements are “broken”.
“For an endangered species like the greater glider, offsets are simply too slow and too uncertain.
“Protecting remaining habitat is the only option that actually prevents extinction.”
Urgency missing from recovery plan
EnvA also criticises the recovery plan’s timelines, with some of the highest-priority actions not scheduled to begin for over a year. The group warns that delays could push the greater glider down the same path as the koala, which declined from common to endangered within two decades.
“The plan talks about recovery by 2050, but that’s meaningless if we keep approving habitat destruction
“Recovery plans should stop decline — not record it.”
Call for stronger action
EnvA is calling for:
- Clear separation of fossil fuel developments from renewable energy in the recovery plan
- Immediate protection of known greater glider habitat and wildlife corridors
- Stronger safeguards for climate-resilient inland populations
- Limits on the use of biodiversity offsets for greater glider habitat
“Greater gliders can’t recover if their homes keep being cleared. Without enforceable habitat protection, this recovery plan risks becoming a record of ongoing decline rather than a pathway to survival.”
EnvA - CQ 