By Callum Ludwig
The Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum (FOLP) group recently celebrated a significant milestone.
2024 marks 20 years since FOLP was founded and members came together to reflect on their achievements over the last two decades in supporting the plight of one of the state’s faunal emblems.
FOLP President Steve Meacher said it is very gratifying to have reached such a milestone in the group’s history, especially as several members joined in those very early days and have now been in the group for twenty years.
“In 2003 Leadbeater’s Possum, though the state’s faunal emblem since 1971, was almost forgotten, now it is known to most Victorians and loved by many and both state and federal politicians have found it is not to be ignored,” he said.
“Students are learning about the possum and its existential challenges, artists and authors are inspired to feature the species in paintings, sculptures, jewellery and books, our federal court case succeeded in showing that logging operations were in breach of Victorian legislation and played a significant role in the government’s decision to end the illegal practice from the beginning of this year, protecting much of the possum’s range in the Ash forests of the Central Highlands,”
“This year has also been special as it’s the first year without logging in public native forests where the Leadbeater’s Possum lives.”
Meeting for the first time on Threatened Species Day on 7 September 2004, things were to get worse before they got better, with the 2006 death of the last Leadbeater’s Possum in captivity at the time at Healesville Sanctuary sparking a flurry of activity from FOLP.
Mr Meacher said he thinks it’s fair to say the group has had a major impact in protecting possum habitat, including through the federal court case.
“We played a role in the uplisting of the species to Critically endangered in 2015 and have also been persistent in advocating for an updated National Recovery Plan, which was promised by mid-2016 but was released by Minister Tanya Plibersek at Healesville Sanctuary in March this year,” he said.
“Although logging in public forests has stopped, logging on private land is still a challenge as is the destruction of critical habitat trees under the guise of management of strategic fuel breaks, there is little, if any, scientific support for this latter practice and it may even increase risk,”
“For more than ten years we have been supporting the creation of a new national park in the Central Highlands that would encompass and protect the entire range of Leadbeater’s Possum and we are optimistic that this is now close.”
Mr Meacher referred to the Victorian Environment Assessment Council’s Interim Report, which the Star Mail previously reported on, released in December 2023 which found that ‘a large protected area such as a national park is commensurate with the outstanding natural values of units 1 3 and 4’ and that ‘there are relatively few uses that would conflict with [this] designation’ and the proposal of a ‘Green Bond’ that would efficiently finance the new park.
Mr Meacher had a number of significant members of the group to recognise for their contributions to FOLP, stating with founders Sera Blair and Pam Miskin, who were also the first two presidents.
“Eric Wilkinson, who rediscovered Leadbeater’s Possum in 1961 when it had been considered almost certainly extinct for 50 years, Eric has been a member of the group since its inception and regularly attends events, including our annual rediscovery picnic at Cambarville where he tells his story,” he said.
“Danya Jacobs, Senior Lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia who led us throughout our court case, scientists whose work over decades has contributed to our knowledge of the possum including Dr Andrew Smith, Professor David Lindenmayer (ANU), Dr Dan Harley (Zoos Victoria) and Professor John Woinarski,”
“Surveyors at Wildlife of the Central Highlands (WOTCH) whose work resulted in the protection of substantial areas of habitat before the cessation of logging and also contributed to the evidence that led to success in our court case.”
FOLP efforts have ranged from fundraisers to seeding, planting and nestbox projects and from government advocacy to legal victories. A full timeline can be found in the September 2024 edition of the Victorian National Parks Association’s (VNPA) ParkWatch magazine.
Mr Meacher said although the Leadbeater’s Possum is the focus of their work, the benefits of its protection are much more widely felt.
“If the forest the possum needs to live in is conserved it helps all the other species of plants and animals that share the same habitat, it protects the catchments that provide drinking and irrigation water to Melbourne and Victoria generally,” he said.
“It cleans the air and generates oxygen through the trees’ photosynthesis, which also results in the sequestration of carbon, moderates the local climate and provides marvellous spaces for exploration and recreation which, in turn, supports tourism and local economies.”
Anyone interested in getting involved can visit the Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum website to sign up.
