Forest Ecology Alliance

02/11/2026

“Protect, preserve and manage Country in a sustainable manner”
“We have looked after Country for thousands and thousands of years”.
deep gratitude to Yvette and Aunty Alison - always there for this sacred Gumbaynggirr land. 🙏🏾💜

01/11/2026

🆘 URGENT CALL TO ACTION: HELP PROTECT GLENBOG STATE FOREST! 🆘

Logging in Glenbog State Forest is due to commence today. We need your help NOW to prevent the destruction of this precious forest and its irreplaceable wildlife habitat.

Please urgently contact:

Anshul Chaudhary – CEO, Forestry Corporation of NSW
The Hon. Penny Sharpe, MLC – NSW Minister for the Environment
The Hon. Tara Moriarty, MLC – NSW Minister for Agriculture (Forestry)
The Hon. Kristy McBain, MP – Minister for Emergency Management
The Hon. Steve Whan, MP
Dr Michael Holland, MP

The northern and now southern compartments of Glenbog State Forest have been extensively surveyed by extraordinarily dedicated citizen scientists.

Their painstaking work, together with overwhelming community concern and advocacy, prompted Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) to withdraw from the northern section.

Yet, despite this significant evidence and community opposition, FCNSW is now intending to proceed with logging the southern section.

Once again, citizen scientists have devoted countless days and nights to document the extraordinary biodiversity of this forest. Their findings include:

Greater Glider and Yellow-bellied Glider dens and critical habitat.
Habitat supporting the threatened Gang-gang Cockatoo.
An exceptionally high population of wombats.

These important wildlife habitat that deserve IMMEDIATE protection.

Glenbog State Forest is of HIGH CONSERVATION VALUE.

FEA hold grave concerns that FCNSW's ecological surveys appear to have failed to identify clear evidence of several threatened species and their habitat.

As a result, important wildlife habitat areas identified by citizen scientists are still missing from the current Harvest Plan and remain unprotected from logging.

The contrast between the findings of dedicated citizen scientists and those recorded in the official surveys raises serious questions about the adequacy of FCNSW ecological assessments in general.

Glenbog State Forest is essential to maintaining the ecological integrity of the region. Its forests, wildlife and interconnected habitats deserve meaningful, long-term protection - not piecemeal conservation measures.

🌿 PLEASE ACT NOW.

We urge everyone to respond to Wilderness Australia's urgent call for help:

Contact the decision-makers listed above and demand an immediate halt to logging in the southern compartments of Glenbog State Forest.

Call for an independent review of the citizen science findings and the ecological assessments.

Sign and share the petition to help secure lasting protection for Glenbog State Forest.

Every email, every phone call and every signature matters.

Cc. The Hon. Tara Moriarty, MLC, Minister for Agriculture; The Hon Kristy McBain, MP, Minister for Emergency Management; The Hon. Steve Whan, MP; Dr Michael Holland, MP

01/11/2026

Interview with Nick Lambert re Bonville Leafless Orchid (Danhatchia copelandii). Interview starts around 12 mins before end of program.

Local news and information to get your weekend off to a great start. Includes sport from 8.30 to 9.

01/11/2026

Just wonderful news! 💚🙏🏾
Nick Lambert, local primary teacher and keen naturalist, has discovered a thriving patch of the Critically Endangered - Bonville Leafless Orchid (Danhatchia copelandii)!

This extraordinary orchid is mycoheterotrophic (holomycotrophic) - it has no leaves and cannot photosynthesise.

Instead, it relies entirely on a symbiotic relationship with subterranean fungi to obtain the nutrients it needs to survive.
For most of its life, it remains hidden underground as a fleshy rhizome or root system, emerging above the surface only briefly to flower.

The sequence of events leading to Nick’s discovery was also remarkable.

Nick visited botanist Dr Lachlan Copeland, who first discovered 6 or 7 orchids on his Bonville property 8 years ago. Lachlan has been closely watching since then, particularly in spring when they flower.

The day after Nick visited Lachlan to see the plants, Nick went to a similar area in Boambee a few kilometres away - and there discovered a patch of around 50 plants!

In our view, there are no coincidences in life - particularly when it comes to our interactions with Nature - because there are further special notes to this story.

Nick happened to make his exciting discovery on the very same day that the Great Koala National Park Bill passed through NSW Parliament - Friday 23 October 2026. What a brilliant way to celebrate species protection twice on one day! 🙌🏽🐨

Also, by the way, it was Ashley Love, widely known as the 'father' of the GKNP, who rang FEA to share Nick’s great news after hearing him interviewed on the excellent ABC Coffs Coast Saturday Breakfast program, presented by another dedicated Nature observer, Bill Wedgewood. Many thanks Bill!

For Ashley and FEA, Nick’s momentous discovery is deeply symbolic of why the Great Koala National Park matters so much.

The magnificent forests of the Mid North Coast are home to countless extraordinary plants, animals and ecological treasures - many of which we are yet to discover.

How many species may already have been lost through decades of widespread logging across our region?

Who knows what secrets these rare plants might have held - or those yet to be discovered might hold - eg potential medicinal, culinary or other benefits to humanity?

Perhaps the greatest gift of all is the pure joy of being able to walk gently through forests and immerse ourselves in Nature, observing the delicate balance of life that has been evolving for so long.

FEA are so grateful to Nick, Lachlan and all those who have explored these forests in wonder - they paved the way for widespread interest in the GKNP and they all worked towards ensuring that future generations can experience discoveries like this one.

A heartfelt thank you to Nick and Lachlan for your dedication to Nature, and for your stunning photographs on iNaturalist. 🙏🏾🌱

31/10/2026

31/10/2026

A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican…(Spike Milligan)

Great news! Thanks to dedicated Wires carers, the poor pelican (with feet bound by fishing line and hook), is now happily back in the water!

He responded well to vet treatment and Wires care and was released today.

They are such magnificent birds aren’t they? Modern-day pelicans evolved from the same broad family as Tyrannosaurus rex and the Velociraptor.

There eight species of pelicans worldwide, and they live on almost every continent, but not in Antarctica, the Amazon basin, and deep interior deserts.

Pelican are a protected species, though lisited as “least concern” status populations across south-eastern Australia have faced long-term declines since the 1970s.

There are "boom and bust" cycles and inland breeding events (like those at Menindee Lakes or Lake Brewster) can sometimes boost numbers of those suffering habitat loss and degradation due to coastal development, dreadful fishing line and hook injuries (such as suffered by this poor pelican), toxins/algal blooms, outbreaks of avian influenza and avian botulism, disturbance to nests or attacks on birds by humans, watercraft, dogs, foxes etc and human interference with feeding (eg overfeeding fishing scraps).

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾Wires 💚💚💚A fabulous example of why wildlife carers are oh so needed - and so special.

30/10/2026

We talked about how plain WRONG it is that pivotal corridor forests have been left out of the GKNP.

Gladstone (where machinery rolled in this week), Tuckers Nob (where logging is soon scheduled) and Pine Creek (at high risk and parts recently logged) should be included for their outstanding conservation values.

Those who do not know what can be found in these forests can still decide to find out - listen to locals - and do right.

We also revived ourselves after an especially exhausting few weeks. Thank you Darren for bringing vegan banana/choc muffins and Judith for bringing chai - both so delicious!

We congratulated newly elected Nambucca Valley Council Deputy Mayor David Jones and wish to thank Councillor Sue Jenvey for her dedicated service as Deputy Mayor the previous year.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Nambucca for Friday for Forests (FFF) and Conservation Conversation Cafe (CCC) - and we hope to see you there one day.

We talked 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, running from 25 November to 10 December 2026, Bellinger River Snapping 🐢 Turtles, sustainability and lots of rubbish (literally - we had much to say about waste options for a brighter future).

All are welcome to attend our Annual General Meeting on 22 November. Please write for details [email protected]

29/10/2026

Last week, after more than a decade of campaigning, NSW Parliament passed the laws creating the Great Koala National Park, with support from across the chamber. It protects more than 178,000 hectares of state forest from logging and is home to an estimated 12,000 koalas. 🐨

But two forests in the middle of it, Pine Creek and Tuckers Nob, weren’t included.
Wilderness Australia started a petition to add the forests to the park, saying these forests are “potentially the richest and most important koala habitat remaining in Australia”. They’re where the paths meet that koalas take to move between populations across the park. According to the petition, the forests were redefined as plantation, which means they can still be clear-fell logged.

Gumbaynggirr Elders, including Aunty Alison, Uncle Gary Williams and Uncle Allan Phillips, have also called for proper consultation. They say cultural sites and places important to Dunggiirr, the koala, sit in the areas left out.

The petition asks the NSW Government to pause logging in Pine Creek and Tuckers Nob, consult properly with Gumbaynggirr Elders, and add both forests to the park. More than 11,000 people have signed so far.

To add your name head here: https://c.org/kxSVjw9Q