The rules governing logging in the state’s forests are being systematically broken, a new report produced by the Environmental Defender’s Office of NSW says.
It identifies dozens of breaches of environmental laws in native forests on the north and south coasts but notes that relatively few fines are being handed contractors employed by Forests NSW, a state government agency.
”There are not just a large number of breaches, but a large number of different types of breaches,” a researcher at the Environmental Defender’s Office, Natasha Hammond-Deakin, said.
”It shows us that it’s a systematic problem, that the same sorts of breaches are happening across different areas over and over again.”
The problems, mostly identified by volunteer researchers walking through the forests on foot, include logging in the wrong places, failure to keep records of which areas have been logged, and damage to the habitat of endangered native animals.
The report was commissioned by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, which is campaigning to end logging in native forests. ”It shows the need for increased penalties,” the council’s director, Pepe Clarke, said. ”The government should allow members of the public to take action and enforce environmental laws through the courts.”
The council pointed out that Forests NSW was fined $5600 in June for doing a hazard reduction burn in the Nullica State Forest in southern NSW in contravention of a threatened species licence. But, under separate land clearing laws, a private company, Walker Corporation, was fined $200,000 for clearing a smaller area of forest.
The Primary Industries Minister, Katrina Hodgkinson, said Forests NSW was working towards the aim of having no breaches.
”Forests NSW has recently increased its capacity for monitoring contractor performance and training which will lead to further improvements in forest harvesting operations,” Ms Hodgkinson said.
”Training has already been provided on soil, water, wildlife and cultural heritage, and new training will focus on threatened species to further build contractor and employee knowledge of the Integrated Forest Operations Approval under which forest harvesting operates.”
The NSW Environment Minister, Robyn Parker, said Forests NSW had received 12 notices for breaches of its operating licences and been sent eight warning letters in the past year.
