THE NSW Forestry Corporation has been prosecuted again for regulation breaches in public native forests.

The latest prosecution by the EPA is for allegedly failing to retain habitat for wildlife by clearing giant and hollow-bearing trees within the bounds of the proposed Great Koala National Park in 2020.

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“Any confidence in Forestry Corporation’s planning and governance lies in tatters after yet another breach,” said National Parks Association Chief Executive Gary Dunnett.

“It is unbelievable that a government-owned organisation, one that reports directly to the Minister for Agriculture, would show such contempt for our public native forests,” he said.

If this was a private company shareholders would be demanding the board stand down.

“These breaches put a spotlight on just how unsustainable, environmentally destructive and damaging logging in public native forests has become” said NPA Conservation Officer Danielle Ryan.

“It’s past time for the NSW government to stop destroying our public native forests.”

Full and permanent protection of koala habitat in the Great Koala National Park would be a great start,” she said.

Ms Ryan said: “The public is familiar with images of the clear-felling of orangutan habitat in Borneo.

“Similar devastation of threatened species habitat is happening right here on our doorstep with our iconic koalas.”

“It is time to get out of public native forestry and stop needlessly wasting prime wildlife habitat,” she said.

NPA President, Dr Grahame Douglas, said, “The NSW Government must act now to protect the north coast koalas and establish the Great Koala National Park near Coffs Harbour immediately.”

A Forestry Corporation spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of this prosecution while the matter was before the courts.

She said, “Timber is an important resource for the community and we work hard to ensure it is produced responsibly.”

The spokesperson said, “There are strict environmental regulations that apply to forestry operations and we recognise the importance of complying with these.”

She said penalties in the past month related to three incidents that took place two to four years ago and that, since that time, Forestry corporation has increased its focus on compliance with additional resources on the ground for planning and monitoring.

She said Forestry Corporation was committed to complying with the stringent ruleset and minimising any environmental impact from operations so that the forests regenerate and provide both wildlife habitat and timber supply for future generations.

Nature Conservation Council Acting Chief Executive, Jacqui Mumford, said it was the fifth time the state-owned Forestry Corporation has been prosecuted or fined by the courts in the past four weeks.

“What will it take for Forestry Corporation to end its careless disregard for our forests and environmental law?”

“Forestry Corp is running at a multi-million-dollar loss, subsidised by the taxpayer and still it fails to operate lawfully,” she said.

Ms Mumford said, “The government must establish a comprehensive independent review of Forestry Corporation to ensure it acts lawfully and sustainably.”

By Andrew VIVIAN