The state government’s environment watchdog has halted logging by the government-owned Forestry Corporation after an endangered greater glider was found dead 50 metres from a recently logged section of the Tallaganda State Forest.

Forestry activists, including the WWF, Wilderness Australia and Greens MP Sue Higginson, lodged complaints that the logging was threatening the endangered species in one of only two areas of greater glider habitat in the south of the state that survived the black summer bushfires.

Logging operations have been halted for 40 days while an investigation is undertaken.

Bob Debus, a former Labor state environment minister who is now chair of Wilderness Australia, said that though Forestry NSW claimed to have conducted a survey of the area and found just one greater glider den tree, a conservationist working with his group did a survey days ago and found three den trees close to the one mapped by FNSW, and each of them had gliders in it.

“So it seems to me just almost inevitably the case that there are very large numbers of gliders in this area, and that their habitat is being logged without their existence even being acknowledged,” he said.

Steve Orr, acting director of operations with the Environment Protection Authority Steve Orr said the discovery of a deceased glider was extremely concerning.

“Southern Greater Gliders are an endangered species and shelter in multiple tree cavities, known as ‘den trees’, over large distances.

“Den trees are critical for the food, shelter and movement of gliders and FCNSW is required to protect them and implement 50 metre exclusion zones around identified den trees.