14 – The multiple benefits of monitoring threatened species: Leadbeater’s possum^199which field activities have been a key part of education activities. The large number
of volunteers involved in the monitoring has allowed the simultaneous counts of
multiple den trees used by Leadbeater’s possum and other species of arboreal
marsupials (Lindenmayer and Meggs 1996; Lindenmayer et al. 1996) in multiple
large, old trees. Although this is labour-intensive and requires training of
volunteers and cross-validation of the veracity of the method (Lindenmayer et al.
2011), it has provided high-quality information on arboreal marsupials year-on-
year for more than three decades (Lindenmayer et al. 2015a).
Political engagement
The long-term monitoring program for Leadbeater’s possum has engaged the
minds of numerous state and federal politicians. As an example, the need for
enhanced protection of the forest for the species and frequent discussions with
policy makers in the early 1990s, resulted in the author of this chapter leading a
delegation of conservative politicians through the forest before the establishment of
the Yarra Ranges National Park. In another example of political engagement, one
of the first books written on the species by the author was launched by former
senator, John Fawkner, the then environment minister (Lindenmayer and
Possingham 1995b). That work triggered the eventual establishment of a mid-
spatial-scale reserve system for Leadbeater’s possum within areas broadly
designated for timber production. A subsequent Federal Environment Minister,
Senator Robert Hill, visited the Central Highlands forests with the author of this
chapter in 1996 before the launch of the Regional Forest Agreement for the region
in 1997 and then signed off an agreement with the ANU to provide Australian
Government funding to instigate new monitoring work in the wet forests in that
same year (Lindenmayer et al. 2015b). A succession of other political ‘dignitaries’ at
state and federal government and shadow minister level, as well as premiers and
opposition leaders of both political persuasions, have since visited the montane ash
forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria. Forest management and the
conservation of Leadbeater’s possum has been the drawcard in each case, although
the level of intellectual engagement with key conservation issues has been variable
on the part of politicians.
Discussion
This research on Leadbeater’s possum commenced more than three decades ago. It
was originally a single species study of occurrence and habitat requirements; it was
not envisioned as the basis of a long-term monitoring program for a threatened
species. Rather, the research program evolved into a long-term monitoring
program of montane ash ecosystems, with monitoring of Leadbeater’s possum
populations being one of many constituent elements. Indeed, the monitoring of