Residents on the hook as environmental agency fined $360,000 for chopping down trees

Councils around Australia are continually battling residents who chop down and poison large trees to create better ocean views. But now a state government has been caught felling important trees it was supposed to protect.

NSW Forestry Corporation has been fined a massive $360,000 for destroying 53 trees inside a state forest that has been set aside as habitat for endangered animals. And because the company is owned by the state government, it will be NSW residents who are ultimately on the hook for the illegal act.

The trees were felled inside the Yambulla State Forest, a popular camping spot 30km south-west of the Eden. The wider NSW South Coast was significantly impacted by the 2019/2020 Black Summer Bushfires. Tens of millions of dollars were donated from around the world to help Australia’s native species recover, and local authorities mapped segments of bushland that survived the blazes for protection.

Logging company blames tree destruction on ‘human error’

This week the Corporation pleaded guilty in the Land and Environment Court.

It was fined $360,000 for offenses relating to the logging of trees in environmentally significant forests in 2020. Its failure to properly map these areas breached conditions imposed by the Environment Protection Authority that were supposed to help bushland recover after the fires.

After the judgement, the Corporation claimed in a statement the logging was caused by “human error,” adding “we deeply regret the mistake and the environmental damage it has caused.”

“We take our environmental responsibility very seriously, and have made significant investments in resources and technology the past four years. We are committed to continually improving our compliance and environmental outcomes,” its CEO Anshul Chaudhary said.

But the court accepted a submission from the EPA that the Corporation had shown a “pattern of environmental offending.” It also found the Corporation had “not sufficiently demonstrated genuine contrition and remorse for its commission of the offenses.”

Minns government urged to end native forest logging

Responding to the judgment, conservationists labeled the Corporation a “rogue agency.”

“This is a recurring behavior by Forestry Corporation and the time has come to end native forest logging for the sake of our precious endangered species, and the cost to the public purse. “Enough is enough” South East Forest Rescue spokesperson Scott Daines said.

North East Forest Alliance spokesperson Dailan Pugh labeled the Corporation a “serial offender” and called for faster responses to fine it for illegal acts.

Jacqui Mumford, the CEO of Nature Conservation Council NSW called on the Minns Government to reign in the Corporation.

“Fines clearly aren’t enough to stop Forestry Corporation’s destruction of endangered species habitat,” she said.

“FCNSW cannot be trusted with our precious native forests. “It’s time for the NSW Government to protect these forests once and for all by ending native forest logging.”

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