Save Deongwar Forest — WORTH PROTECTING!

The Darling Downs Environment Council (DDEC), in collaboration with the Save Deongwar State Forest (SDSF) community group is seeking to raise funds to continue advocating for Deongwar to be permanently protected as part of Queensland’s conservation estate prior to 31 December 2024.

This will be achieved by promoting Deongwar’s cultural and biodiversity values, conducting community engagement, encouraging citizen science activities, supporting scientific survey efforts and highlighting it’s future potential as a eco tourist destination. Any unused contributions will be redirected to support the work of DDEC. Contributions will be used to create a variety of printed material for distribution within the Toowoomba and Somerset Regional Council areas and also mixed media content for publication on the world wide web and social media platforms. This may include flyers, stickers, documents and video production. 2024 is a critical year for the future of Queensland's State Forests in the South East Queensland Regional Plan area.

Decisions will soon be made regarding which areas are to be permanently protected for conservation and which areas will continue to be exploited for native hardwood timber.

Currently many Queensland residents are not aware of Deongwar’s existence, where it is or why it’s important. Supporting our gofundme campaign will enable us to better connect and engage with the community, build community support for Deongwar’s protection and demonstrate that support to the State Government and it’s decision makers.

Below is a little information about Deongwar:

Deongwar is 4800 hectares of intact, high elevation, high conservation value, remnant native forest. It is located approximately half way between Esk and Crows Nest on the Esk Hampton Road. It provides essential habitat and connectivity at a landscape scale within the South East Queensland Biodiversity corridor. It’s habitat supports 146 protected native animals including our glossy black-cockatoo, yellow-bellied glider, powerful owl, brush-tailed rock-wallaby and long-nosed potoroo. It includes 2660 hectares of koala habitat, of which 311 hectares is endangered blackbutt woodland. And all of the forest is within the known habitat range of the endangered greater glider (southern and central). The landscape includes extensive ridge line trails that overlook undulating gullies containing scenic rocky creek systems that include a rich diversity of moisture dependant plant communities.

It’s worth protecting.