Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270:body:0:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 3023–8022

Plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved and may also be constrained by the need to address other conservation priorities. Approved recovery actions may be subject to modification due to changes in knowledge and changes in conservation status.
Acknowledgements
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water would like to acknowledge the Leadbeater's Possum Drafting Group who contributed significantly to the development of this recovery plan. Maps were produced by the Arthur Rylah Institute and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Acknowledgement of Country
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water recognises the First Peoples of this nation and their ongoing connection to culture and Country. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the Traditional Owners, Custodians and Lore Keepers of the world's oldest living culture and pay respects to their Elders past and present.

Image credits

Cover photo: © Tamara Leitch and Claire McCall 2019.

Contents
Contents...................................................................iii
1 Summary...............................................................1
1.1 Long-term recovery objective...........................................2
1.2 Recovery plan objectives..............................................2
2 Introduction.............................................................3
2.1 Conservation status of Leadbeater's possum................................3
2.2 About this recovery plan..............................................3
2.3 Urgent need and emergency response....................................4
2.4 Significance of Leadbeater's possum......................................5
3 Background information informing recovery action................................6
3.1 Description........................................................6
3.2 Distribution........................................................6
3.3 Population size....................................................13
3.4 Habitat..........................................................17
3.5 Diet.............................................................26
3.6 Social structure....................................................27
3.7 Demography and breeding biology......................................28
4 Threats................................................................32
4.1 Historical causes of decline............................................32
4.2 Current threatening processes.........................................32
5 Legislative, policy and planning context........................................39
5.1 International agreements and obligations.................................39
5.2 National threatened species policy......................................39
5.3 National forest policy................................................39
5.4 Victorian state policy and planning......................................40
6 Conservation and management history........................................42
7 Recovery objectives and actions.............................................46
7.1 Context..........................................................46
7.2 Recovery objectives, actions and performance measures......................47
8 Plan implementation.....................................................65
8.1 Implementation schedule and costs.....................................65
8.2 Monitoring, evaluation and adaptation of the recovery plan....................71
8.3 Potential benefits and impacts associated with implementation.................71
8.4 Affected interests..................................................77
9 Acknowledgements......................................................80
10 Acronyms and definitions..................................................80
10.1 Acronyms........................................................80
10.2 Definitions........................................................81
11 References.............................................................86

1 Summary
This plan was endorsed by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) in 2023, after the Victorian Government had announced that native timber harvesting would cease on public lands on 1 January 2024. Timber harvesting has been one of the major threats to Leadbeater's possum and the plan was initially drafted with a number of key objectives to ameliorate this threat, consistent with the 2019 Leadbeater's possum listing assessment and conservation advice. Although the direct threat from forestry will be largely removed, there are ongoing legacy impacts and future (interrelated) threats from fire, climate change as