The Leadbeater's possum will remain on Australia's critically endangered species list and five types of frog will be added, the federal environment minister has announced.
Sussan Ley said her decision on Victoria's animal emblem will ensure the tiny nocturnal marsupial, which risks extinction within 30 years, gets the protection it needs.
But the minister is facing criticism over saying she hopes the possum's recovery plan takes into account the needs of the timber industry - the marsupial's greatest threat.
"I'm encouraged by the forestry industry's willingness to engage in the possum's survival - indeed they have invested heavily in research of the possum to ensure they abide by the terms of their regional forestry agreement," she said in a statement on Monday.
"It is this agreement that places a 200-metre barrier around all nesting trees, those with hollows, to protect the populations we know about, and provide much-needed data on those that don't."
The Leadbeater's possum is only found in central Victoria and was believed extinct until it was rediscovered in 1961.
The possum, and the vulnerable greater glider, dwell in old growth forests in the central highlands region where VicForests' logging operations take place.
Ms Ley says it's important to strike the right balance between the timber industry and conservation.
"I look forward to a recovery plan that takes into account the needs of that timber industry," she told ABC AM.
But the Australian Conservation Foundation's Jess Abrahams says the minister's comments are worrying as recovery plans don't need to balance the needs of an endangered species and commercial industries.
"As the name suggests, recovery plans are about recovering a threatened species from the brink of extinction," she told AAP.
Although recovery plans identify interests which may be affected by protecting the animal, its primary purpose is for the "protection, conservation and management of a listed threatened species", she added.
Greens senator Janet Rice says the minister's decision confirms the possum is on the brink of extinction.
Senator Rice says any logging near its habitat should be halted immediately, calling on the government to fully fund and implement a recovery plan.
"Minister Ley must now unequivocally rule out backing the Australian Forest Products Association's proposed delays to a recovery plan to conduct further 'studies'," she said.
"Otherwise, the extinction of the Leadbeater's possum will be on her and her government's head."
The Australian Forest Products Association wants there to be a comprehensive survey of the possum's population, to close the "significant scientific gaps" surrounding its management.
Evidence produced during two-year review for the marsupial's status indicated a much greater population and range than when the Leadbeater's possum was first classed as critically endangered, AFPA says.
Meanwhile, five types of frog have been classed as critically endangered including the elegant frog, rattling nursery frog, Mount Elliot nursery frog, mountain-top nursery frog and the Bellenden Ker nursery frog.
The tapping nursery frog is now considered an endangered species.
Ms Ley also added the white-throated needletail to the vulnerable category of birds, and removed the plant salt myoporum from the threatened list.
Australian Associated Press
