Save Sunrise Glossies - Spencer's Dream

Hi, my name is Spencer,

I am ten years old and I live on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland,  Australia  with my mum and dad. I took this photograph earlier this year. This bird is very special to me because he is the father of a juvenile Glossy Black-Cockatoo that I call ‘Fledge’. 


He and his family rely on their favoured feed trees in a forest of Allocasuarina (she-oak) that the Uniting Church say they are going to destroy. 

I need your help to stop the Uniting Church from destroying their home.  

Nearly every day I watch and photograph these amazing birds. I have been watching him and his mate for three years now. And at the end of last year he arrived back to the site with his mate and a newly fledged juvenile that I named ‘Fledge’. I was so happy :). This is the first juvenile I have recorded for this pair. He is very special to me and represents hope for the future of the Glossies. 


The forest they want to clear is one of the most significant feeding, drinking, roosting & flocking sites observed on the Sunshine Coast. The glossy black cockatoo is listed as vulnerable and we need to save their food trees if we want to save them. I need your help to make the Uniting Church listen and save this forest.

Our community will mourn along with our Glossies if their habitat is destroyed by the Uniting Church. I believe Churches should be protecting our environment not destroying our environment, like profit driven developers. Please help us remind the Uniting Church they should be listening to their community & talking to our local Council to find a better solution.

I am asking the Uniting Church to be true to their word, in their own brochure ‘For the Sake of the Planet’ they said ‘It makes good economic and political sense to spend money ensuring the long-term wellbeing of our natural world – there can be no security for humanity without a healthy ecosystem”.

Why can’t the Church be true to their word in protecting the environment?

Please help me raise funds to campaign against the Uniting Church and to end deforestion of native forest across all of Australia. 

Now I’m feeling very sad about their future and mine. To loose these beautiful birds from our skies because the Uniting Church won’t listen to our community would be a true tragedy. The Uniting Church has the power to change this decision filling us all with hope for the future that Churches really do care about the local people and environment.

We need the Uniting Church to come and talk to our Council so we can find a better location for an aged-care facility that doesn’t threaten the survival of the vulnerable glossy black cockatoo. 

Why the site is important for Glossy Black-cockatoos.

During the summer of 2019/20, extensive areas of Glossy Black-cockatoo habitat were burnt throughout New South Wales. Part of their habitat were also burnt in south east Queensland and in Victoria.

The fires resulted in the loss of feed trees and nesting sites. Birdlife Australia is currently studying the full impact of the fires on the east coast populations.

Similarly, September 2019 saw an extensive area of bushland around Peregian Springs burn, having a likely impact on feeding and potentially nesting habitat for Glossy Black-cockatoos.

The impact of fires has confounded the impacts of historical land clearing and habitat loss already faced by the species and underscores the importance of protecting remaining habitat. They are listed as vulnerable to extinction under Queensland’s Nature Conservation Act (NCA) and loss of habitat through land clearing remains the greatest threat to the species.

We have observed 5-30 Glossy Black-Cockatoos feeding at both sites due to be developed for this Autumn /Winter season so far. The first sighting on the 11/04/21 of 5 Glossy Black-Cockatoos has increased steadily since that date, signalling the Flocking period had commenced. Since this date we have watched the Glossy Black-Cockatoos flock & identified 2 groups coming in & going out to & from the West to the sites due to be developed. We believe these numbers are the highest recorded, for this suggests that the site is regionally significant for the Sunshine Coast – Noosa sub-populations of this species and has become increasingly important as a result of ongoing habitat loss.

Land clearing at Grasstree Court threatens the survival of the species. Its status as vulnerable under the NCA establishes that the species faces the risk of extinction if threats such as land clearing continue. The ongoing clearing of Glossy Black-
cockatoo habitat on a piecemeal basis, such as proposed at Grasstree Court, will only ensure the species becomes increasingly threatened, elevated to critically endangered, until it becomes extinct.

The site is likely to be critical feeding habitat for the regional sub-population of Glossy Black-cockatoos.

Why the Blue Care Sunrise Beach development at Grasstree Court will contribute to deforestation.

Deforestation is the clearing or modification of native forests for agricultural, urban or industrial development and remains a significant threat to Australia’s flora and fauna.1

Forest is defined by the Australian Government as all vegetation with a tree height of or greater than 2m and a crown canopy cover of 20 percent or more.2

Deforestation has been repeatedly identified as the most significant threat to Australia’s terrestrial flora and fauna.3

Australia is a global hotspot for deforestation.4 5

Between 2013 and 2018, approximately 1,024ha of remnant and natural regrowth forests were cleared in urban landscapes across Australia.6

Land clearing at the proposed development site will result in the removal of 5hectares of remnant and regrowth native vegetation and habitat for native fauna. Clearing at this site meets criteria to be included in state and national statistics on deforestation.

Carbon emissions from deforestation in Australia are equivalent to roughly one-third of the total emissions released by all coal-fired power stations across the country.7 While relatively small, the proposed clearing at the site will still contribute to overall carbon emissions.

Why replanting and rehabilitation are not as good as protection.

1 Evans MC (2016) Deforesta5on in Australia: drivers, trends and policy responses. Pacific Conserva.on Biology, 2016, 22, 130-150

2 Australian Government (2018) Na.onal Inventory Report 2016 Volume 12. Commonwealth of Australia.

3 Queensland Government (2016) Queensland State of the Environment 2015, hKps:// www.stateoMheenvironment.des.qld.gov.au/

4 Evans MC (2016).

5 Pacheco, P., Mo, K., Dudley, N., Shapiro, A., Aguilar-Amuchastegui, N., Ling, P.Y., Anderson, C. and Marx, A. 2021. Deforestation fronts: Drivers and responses in a changing world. WWF, Gland, Switzerland.

6 The Wilderness Society (2019) Drivers of Deforesta5on and land clearing in Queensland. 7 The Wilderness Society (2017) Towards Zero Deforesta5on