Community volunteers surveying for endangered wildlife in the Kalang headwaters have photographed a population of Long-nosed Potoroo across the areas that Forestry Corporation has scheduled for logging.
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This follows their success in documenting the existence of a thriving colony of koalas in the same compartments.
The potoroos were snapped by camera traps left in the forest overnight.
Ecologist Mark Graham described the Long-nosed Potoroo as a nationally vulnerable species of small wallaby that is responsible for keeping our forests and woodlands healthy.
"This is because the potoroo spreads the spores of fungi that are responsible for the health of our diverse eucalypts," he said.
"Long-nosed Potoroos have become extinct across most of their historic range because of native vegetation clearance, feral predators and degradation of forests.
"They require dense vegetation cover for their survival; as a consequence they are very sensitive to human disturbances such as logging operations."
Forestry Corporation's draft harvesting plan for Scotchmans and Roses Creek compartments 125-128 does not contain any mention of potoroo.
However, Kalang River Forest Alliance spokesperson Jonas Bellchambers said the roading operations had already caused damage.
"Logging access roads have recently been built within the four compartments in the Upper Kalang, and these have destroyed, damaged and degraded habitat for the Long-nosed Potoroo," he said.
"This is a serious breach of NSW and Commonwealth environmental laws."
Mark Graham said the findings demonstrate that Forestry Corporation's fauna and flora surveys, which Forestry have described as being "detailed" and conducted over several years, were not adequate, robust or reliable.
"Community volunteers have now found evidence of these two nationally significant threatened species with a very limited amount of survey effort across just a few days.
"We have no confidence in Forestry Corp's flora and fauna assessments."
Jonas Bellchambers said the Friends of Kalang Headwaters would not permit any logging of these nationally significant forests.
"We call for their immediate reservation as extensions to New England National Park and Baalijin Nature Reserve and ultimately as part of the Great Koala National Park," he said.