A decision on the fate of Woogaroo Forest has been made.
Despite the science. Despite our threatened native wildlife being pushed closer to extinction, one decision at a time. Despite the voices of thousands of community members and experts from around the world.
The Australian Government has approved the first of four developments threatening the future of Woogaroo Forest.
With further approvals looming, we must hold Environment Minister Murray Watt, our elected representatives and the developers accountable.
We need your voice. Respectfully call, email or write to those responsible. Tell them what kind of natural world you want future generations to inherit.
The future of Woogaroo Forest is not yet written. Please take action below.
Springfield City Group is seeking approval for another development affecting Woogaroo Forest - Scenic Precinct: EPBC 2020/8651.
24.2 hectares of critical habitat up for destruction.
Tell Environment Minister Murray Watt: No more approvals!
The Australian Government has approved the destruction of up to 128 hectares of threatened-species habitat at Woogaroo Forest - with more approvals in the pipeline.
Help us demand transparency, accountability and genuine protection for what remains.
Protecting Woogaroo Forest now means challenging decisions, scrutinising the science and fighting to prevent further destruction.
Every contribution strengthens our ability to fight for a future where wildlife comes before development profits from poor decision making.
The Australian Government has approved the Stockland/Cherish Enterprises development at Woogaroo Forest. Now, Springfield City Group is pursuing approval for its Scenic Precinct development, threatening a further 24 hectare loss of this irreplaceable ecosystem.
We cannot allow the forest to be destroyed one approval at a time.
We're calling on Environment Minister Murray Watt to ensure the cumulative impacts of all developments affecting Woogaroo Forest are properly assessed, and to prevent further avoidable destruction of threatened-species habitat.
1. Contact the Environment Minister
Call or email Minister Murray Watt and ask him to intervene before further approvals are granted.
2. Make your message personal
Tell him why Woogaroo Forest matters to you. Ask how further habitat loss can be justified when threatened species are already facing extinction.
3. Request a response
Ask the Minister to explain how the combined impacts of development across the forest will be considered before another decision is made.
Phone: (02) 6277 7920
Email: minister.watt@dcceew.gov.au and senator.watt@aph.gov.au
Choose a topic below for some suggested talking points. You don't need to cover everything - a short, personal message can be just as effective.
Woogaroo Forest is a connected ecosystem, not a collection of isolated development sites. The Commonwealth has already approved significant habitat loss under the Cherish development. Further approvals could compound the damage to threatened species, wildlife movement and ecological connectivity.
The Cherish/Stockland approval permits clearing of up to 128 hectares of overlapping habitat identified for the Koala, Grey-headed Flying-fox, Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater, as well as 0.77 hectares of Collared Delma habitat. The Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater are Critically Endangered. Ask why further habitat loss should be approved when these species are already under such pressure.
Offsets do not prevent the immediate loss of habitat. Under the Cherish/Stockland approval, required offset outcomes may take up to 20 years to achieve. There are serious questions about whether future habitat improvements can adequately compensate for habitat destroyed today, particularly for Critically Endangered species. Extinction won't wait 20 years. Additionally, mature forest ecosystems, like tree hollows, can take centuries to develop.
The various development proposals affect the same broader forest ecosystem. Their combined impacts may be greater than the effects of individual projects considered separately. Ask the Minister to explain how cumulative habitat loss, fragmentation and ecological connectivity are being assessed.
Yes. Save Woogaroo Forest Group has raised concerns about koala survey methodology, habitat-use classifications and the adequacy of some threatened-species assessments. Ask the Minister to ensure these matters are independently examined and addressed before further decisions are made.
Ask him to ensure all relevant cumulative impacts are rigorously assessed, outstanding scientific concerns are addressed, and further avoidable habitat destruction is prevented. Request a written explanation of how these matters will influence the upcoming decisions.
Dear Minister Watt,
I am deeply concerned about the approval of the Cherish Enterprises development at Woogaroo Forest and the prospect of further approvals for Springfield City Group's Precinct development.
How will the cumulative impacts of these developments on threatened species, habitat connectivity and the long-term survival of the forest be assessed?
I urge you to ensure that no further avoidable habitat destruction is approved and that outstanding ecological concerns are properly addressed.
Please provide a written response.
Kind regards,
[Your name]
The approval of the Cherish Enterprises/Stockland development has raised serious questions about how Australia protects its threatened species and who is accountable when irreplaceable habitat is lost.
The companies involved and our elected representatives must answer for their roles in the future of Woogaroo Forest.
Choose who you'd like to contact below.
Ask why further destruction of threatened-species habitat is being allowed, what alternatives have been considered, and what each organisation will do to protect the remaining forest.
Be respectful, but firm. Ask for a written response where and when possible.
Click each dropdown menu for the relevant contact details.
Stockland
Hold Stockland accountable for its environmental commitments and the destruction of threatened-species habitat.
(07) 3305 8600 — Queensland office
customercareteam@stockland.com.au
Springfield City Group
Demand answers about its proposed developments (Scenic Precinct and Peninsular Precinct) and their cumulative impacts on Woogaroo Forest.
(07) 3819 9999
Murray Watt — Federal Environment Minister
Demand an explanation for the Cherish Enterprises approval and action to prevent further avoidable habitat destruction.
(02) 6277 7920
minister.watt@dcceew.gov.au and senator.watt@aph.gov.au
Andrew Powell — Queensland Environment Minister
Ask what the Queensland Government is doing to protect threatened species, remaining habitat and ecological corridors at Woogaroo Forest.
(07) 3719 7300
environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Shayne Neumann — Federal MP for Blair
Ask him to publicly state his position and advocate for stronger Commonwealth protection of Woogaroo Forest.
(07) 3201 5300
Milton Dick — Federal MP for Oxley
Ask him to speak publicly about the developments and seek answers concerning cumulative habitat loss.
(07) 3879 6440
Teresa Harding — Mayor of Ipswich
Ask Council to explain its position on further development and what measures it will support to protect the remaining forest.
(07) 3810 6011
Charis Mullen — State MP for Jordan
Ask her to publicly advocate for protecting the remaining forest and preventing further fragmentation of threatened-species habitat.
(07) 3447 9300
These talking points can help you contact developers and elected representatives. Questions about government assessments, recovery plans and approval decisions are best directed to the Federal Environment Minister.
The Australian Government has approved the clearing of up to 128 hectares of overlapping habitat for four nationally protected threatened species: the Koala, Grey-headed Flying-fox, Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater. The approval also permits the loss of 0.77 hectares of Collared Delma habitat.
The Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater are already Critically Endangered. Every further loss of suitable habitat places additional pressure on species fighting for survival.
Ask: Why is the government continuing to approve the destruction of threatened-species habitat when protecting and restoring that habitat is essential to their recovery?
Woogaroo Forest is a functioning ecosystem, not simply a collection of trees. Species such as the Powerful Owl depend on extensive, interconnected landscapes containing mature trees, nesting hollows and healthy prey populations.
Koalas also need space. As young koalas mature, they must be able to disperse, establish their own home ranges and connect with neighbouring populations. This movement is essential for breeding, genetic diversity and long-term survival.
Retaining a creek corridor may provide a pathway for wildlife movement, but a corridor is not necessarily a substitute for the extensive habitat needed to feed, breed, disperse and sustain viable populations.
Ask: What scientific evidence demonstrates that the remaining habitat and corridors will provide sufficient space, resources and connectivity to sustain the species that currently depend on Woogaroo Forest?
The approval allows up to 20 years for required offset outcomes to be achieved. Yet mature forests contain ecological features that cannot simply be recreated within that timeframe.
Large tree hollows suitable for wildlife can take well over a century, sometimes several centuries, to develop. Complex forest ecosystems also depend on established relationships between vegetation, wildlife, soils, fungi and other organisms.
There is no guarantee that offset sites will reproduce the ecological values being lost, particularly within a timeframe meaningful to species already facing extinction.
Ask: How can destroying established habitat today be justified by promises of future environmental improvements that may take decades or centuries to deliver equivalent ecological functions?
You cannot offset extinction.
Australia has national recovery plans intended to halt the decline of threatened species and improve their prospects of survival.
These plans recognise the importance of protecting habitat, maintaining ecological connectivity and addressing the threats driving species toward extinction.
Yet the government continues to authorise the removal of habitat relied upon by these same species.
Ask: How did the Department determine that approving the permanent loss of threatened-species habitat was consistent with the objectives of the relevant national recovery plans? What evidence supports that conclusion?
Woogaroo Forest is one continuous ecological community. Its wildlife, waterways, vegetation and ecological processes do not recognise property boundaries or development footprints.
Yet the forest faces four separate development proposals, each with the potential to remove habitat and further fragment what remains.
Assessing developments individually risks overlooking their combined consequences for habitat connectivity, wildlife populations and the long-term viability of the entire ecosystem.
Ask: Why were the four developments affecting Woogaroo Forest considered through separate approval processes, and how has the Department assessed their combined impacts on threatened species, habitat connectivity and the long-term viability of the forest?
A forest functions as one ecosystem. Its protection should reflect that reality.
Making a call isn't as hard as you think. Keep it brief, respectful and simply say what you feel. See some of our talking points below.
Phone calls hold the most weight because all calls are officially logged. Additionally, politicians track call volumes closely; if an office gets dozens of calls on a topic, they assume thousands of other community members feel the same way.
Please mention: the reason you are calling is primarily in relation to EPBC referral 2019/8575 - Springview Village 2 & 3. This is the development Minister Watt has made a determination on, approving the destruction of the forest and all the inhabitants that call it home. If they ask you to email instead, just let them know you wish to be heard by phone.
Contact Murray Watt's Ministerial office:
(02) 6277 7920
Possible Phone Script:
"I'm calling about Woogaroo Forest in Ipswich, Queensland. A federal decision has been made to destroy Woogaroo Forest, and I'm letting Minister Watt know his decision around the development referrals affecting the site do not reflect the community's views. The referral is EPBC referral 2019/8575 - Springview Village 2 & 3.
Woogaroo Forest is home to over 1,000 species, including the endangered koala, vulnerable grey-headed flying foxes, critically endangered Lowland Rainforest, platypus and powerful owls, to name a few. Once this habitat is cleared, it's gone. It can't be meaningfully restored, and offsets can't replace it.
This has already drawn global support from over 300 scientists and experts, and more than 21,500 people have signed the petition. I'd like that recorded as a call in support of protecting Woogaroo Forest."
If your call goes longer, feel free to talk on these matters:
The scale of the problem
What's at Woogaroo Forest specifically
Why offsets aren't a solution
Why this is a legal question, not just a local one
Community support (useful if asked "who cares about this")
If raised: "what about housing supply?"
If you feel like you're on a roll, feel free to call these politicians too!
Andrew Powell - QLD State Environment Minister
07 3719 7300
environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au
Shayne Neumann - Federal MP for Blair
07 3201 5300
Milton Dick - Federal MP for Oxley
07 3879 6440
Teresa Harding - Mayor of Ipswich
07 3810 6011
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