Conservationists are pleading with the NSW government to halt logging in one of the few remaining strongholds for the endangered greater glider.
Confronting drone footage has been captured by Australian filmmaker Andrew Kaineder, showing what logging by the Forestry Corporation of NSW is doing to the Tallaganda state forest, east of Canberra.
The forest is right next to the protected Tallaganda National Park, which was hit hard in the Black Summer fires.
The flames took out so many mature, hollow trees that experts quickly realised temporary nesting boxes would be needed to help the imperilled species get by.
Mr Kaineder put his drone up at Tallaganda where logging crews have been working their way across state forest, taking down trees adjacent to the national park.
It's what the Forestry Corporation calls selective harvesting but to the filmmaker, who's worked on many nature-focused documentaries, there's little evidence of careful choice.
"When I was driving in, I was welling up pretty much, at just how vast the devastation was. It is shocking," he told AAP.
"It's not clear-felled, but it looks like rubbish. It's vast and it's devastating but the devil's advocate could be like 'oh well, they've left this many trees, and that's all right'.
"If a glider is living in a tree, it doesn't have many options about where to go."
WWF-Australia has long been involved in efforts to boost the glider's chances of escaping extinction and is imploring the NSW government to order an immediate halt to logging in the Tallaganda area.
Conservation scientist Kita Ashman says the loss of core habitat is brutal for a species that's suffered population losses of up to 80 per cent in some areas.
Dr Ashman says the arbitrary boundary between national park and state forest means nothing to gliders and describes it as reckless.
"You've got national park on the west side, and state forest that's subject to logging on the east side ... you can be standing in national park and be on the boundary of a logging coupe.
"I've been working in forests that have gliders in them for a really long time and I've never seen greater glider densities like this anywhere else up the east coast.
"Logging should be halted in Tallaganda state forest."
The Forestry Corporation says selective harvesting is carefully planned to ensure wildlife remains abundant.
That includes the retention of "wildlife habitat and tree retention clumps" to support connectivity between harvested areas, unharvested parts of the state forests and protected areas.
It said its monitoring before logging detected almost 400 greater gliders, showing management of forests and protected areas was supporting populations.
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe did not respond to AAP's questions.
But the Environment Protection Authority said the WWF had lodged a complaint but had not alleged unlawful activity.
"However we will review the operations and will work closely with WWF and FCNSW on the matters raised to ensure appropriate outcomes are achieved," the EPA said.
