‘First case of its type’ sees forestry body sentenced for felling trees needed by hundreds of native species

Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW) has been fined after being found guilty of illegally felling hollow-bearing trees in a part of Mogo State Forest that was badly burnt during the Black Summer bushfires.

In his sentence in Batemans Bay Local Court on December 21, Magistrate Doug Dick said the case was unusual and had a maximum penalty of $2 million. 

“It is the first of its type to come before the court in NSW,” he said.

Magistrate Dick found FCNSW guilty of felling four hollow-bearing hardwood trees in Compartment 174A of Mogo State Forest after its harvesting operation in March 2020.

According to the court documents, a large portion of Compartment 174A was burned during the Black Summer bushfires just three months prior to the offence.

FCNSW was fined $20,000 and ordered to pay more than $84,000 in legal costs to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

It was also ordered to widely publicise the judgement on its social media accounts and through a paid advertisement in the local newspaper and the Sydney Morning Herald within 60 days of the judgement.

Mr Dick said the wide publication of the judgement would increase criminal stigma and deter repeat offending.

Obligation to the environment

Under the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA), the state-owned timber corporation responsible for managing more than 2 million hectares of public land is required to retain any hollow-bearing trees during harvesting operations.

A hollow-bearing tree is any with a small cavity on the trunk of branches. They form naturally through cracks caused by weather events such as wind or lightning or through internal decay.

Such hollows typically form in trees more than 150 years old.

Hollow bearings are protected in NSW legislation because they take so long to form, and more than 300 Australian native species rely on them for shelter.

In his judgement, Magistrate Dick said FCNSW had an obligation to ensure any tree that appeared to possibly contain a hollow was further scrutinised for confirmation.

“The hollows would have been visible when the tree was standing,” he said.

“There was no evidence as to why the searches undertaken by FCNSW failed to detect the presence of hollows in four trees.”

While Magistrate Dick acknowledged the offending was “on the lower end of the scale”, he said the community viewed environmental offences as extremely serious.

The offence made up one of five fines issued to Forestry in March 2022 for breaches in three south coast state forests, totalling $78,000.

Forestry taking steps

FCNSW lawyer Ryan Coffey said the organisation had not intended to disregard the law and was working with the EPA to better understand its responsibility.

It comes after FCNSW announced it was trialling thermal drone imaging to identify greater glider dens in Tallaganda and flat rock state forests on the NSW south coast.

Two stop work orders are in effect in the forests after the EPA deemed FCNSW had not taken enough proactive action to protect the endangered southern greater glider and its habitat.

“Money has been spent in relation to engaging with technology in order to achieve better results,” Mr Coffey said.

“This is not an organisation that wants to ignore what the government says.”

Native timber harvesting in Western Australia and Victoria state forests will be illegal from January 1, 2024.