GM3 is proud to be playing a key role in an innovative conservation initiative to protect one of Australia’s most endangered marsupials—the Southern Greater Glider.
As part of a project led by the Symbio Conservation Foundation, GM3 has helped to fund the installation of 25 state-of-the-art, fire-retardant, and thermally insulated nest boxes across the Illawarra Escarpment. These specially designed boxes are already proving effective, with trail camera footage recently confirming gliders moving into three of the new homes.
The video monitoring capability is also providing researchers real-time insights into the gliders’ behavior while minimising disturbance to these elusive animals. It’s an encouraging sign of early success, and we’re proud to be part of the effort that’s already making a tangible impact.
Simon Thomas, General Manager at GM3 Dendrobium Mine, echoed this sentiment:
“Our partnership with Symbio Wildlife Park demonstrates how we can work together to support local biodiversity and protect the Southern Greater Glider. Our environmental field team helped install these nest boxes on our land, creating safe habitats for this endangered species and reinforcing our commitment to responsible land stewardship. The discovery of a local Greater Glider population was a welcome surprise following our koala conservation drone identification Project with Symbio.”
This initiative forms part of a broader conservation and research program focused on understanding how Greater Gliders use their environment—everything from their nesting preferences to how forest structure and species composition influence where they live. The ultimate goal: to develop long-term conservation strategies that can help reverse population decline.
Once common along Australia’s eastern coastline, the Southern Greater Glider was listed as endangered in 2022 due to habitat loss, climate change, and bushfires. These gliders rely heavily on old-growth trees for nesting hollows—many of which have been lost to deforestation or fires. The artificial nest boxes we’ve helped fund aim to bridge that gap.
The team is also conducting vegetation mapping and using predictive models to guide where additional support is needed—ensuring these efforts can be expanded to other areas over time.
The Southern Greater Glider, Australia’s largest gliding marsupial, can reach up to a metre in length including its long, bushy tail. With soft fur that ranges from dark brown to creamy white, large ears, and a gliding membrane stretching from elbow to ankle, the species can glide up to 100 metres through the forest canopy in search of food and shelter.
Images provided by Symbio Wildflife Park