INDEPENDENT NSW MLC Justin Field has welcomed a significant fine against NSW Forestry Corporation in the Land and Environment Court.

The fines of $285,600 are for destroying koala habitat in Wild Cattle Creek Forest near Coffs Harbour, dating back to 2018.

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Mr Field said, “I welcome the fine after a four year-long investigation and legal battle, but it will do little for those displaced koalas that have lost their homes, which will take 40, 50 or more years to recover.

“The real story here is why Forestry Corporation is allowed to log in koala habitat at all.”

Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian agrees.

“We welcome the court’s decision to apply this substantial fine and to award costs – Forestry Corporation must be made to pay for its environmental vandalism,” he said.

“Fines, no matter how large, can never replace critical koala habitat destroyed by Forestry Corporation.

“Regrettably, today’s fine is another instance of destructive and unlawful behaviour by a company entrusted with managing two million hectares of forest.

“This is not an isolated instance – Forestry Corporation is a repeat offender, with six major breaches successfully prosecuted since April 2020,” said Mr Gambian.

Mr Field said, “With the koala officially declared ‘endangered’ last month, and with the Government planning to spend over $100 million in the next decade to purchase or protect koala habitat, why is Forestry Corporation being allowed to log public land with some of the most important remaining koala habitat in the state?”

“Forestry Corporation have plans over the coming months to log substantial areas west and southwest of Coffs Harbour which is known to be some of the most important koala habitat in the region, including areas which form part of the Headwaters Nature Reserve and Great Koala National Park proposals.”

Forestry Corporation released a statement about the issue, and acknowledged that it had “made some mapping and marking errors during the operation”.

The statement said, ”We believe these were isolated incidents and have reviewed our compliance systems to drive additional controls and safeguards aimed to prevent such errors from recurring.”

The Corporation attributed the miscommunication of map updates, GPS errors and operator errors for the operation that resulted in the fine.

The Corporation said it continued to monitor and check its systems to ensure they are accurate and that operations for renewable timber are undertaken in line with the rules and regulations and with protection of important environmental features as the highest priority.

However, Mr Gambian said, “There is little evidence the Corporation is meeting these basic standards under the existing arrangements.”

By Andrew VIVIAN