CCTV, ranger patrols to catch firewood thieves in the state’s South East plantations
A spike in firewood thefts from people’s backyards through to native plantations has prompted more CCTV cameras and increased ranger patrols. Some trees cut down were 200 years old.
SA News
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Firewood theft in the state’s South-East is robbing native animals of habitat and raising safety concerns, prompting a group of forest owners to band together and catch thieves on camera.
ForestrySA, which manages tree plantations across areas in the state’s South East, including Mt Burr Forest, Mount Gambier Forest, and Penola Forest near the Victorian border, said owners had noticed a recent sharp increase in firewood theft.
ForestrySA forest Ranger Kieran Gosden said camera surveillance, and ranger patrols had been increased in and around the plantation and native forests to catch thieves in the act.
“If you are in local forests cutting down trees and taking firewood you are breaking the law and there will be consequences.”
A police spokesperson said Limestone Coast Police are working with Forestry SA, and patrols had increased in the area.
Forest owners and management companies across the Green Triangle, which encompasses the South-East and plantations over the Victorian border, have joined forces to tackle the issue.
The group says some of the trees being felled are up to 200 years old.
Joel Turner, chair of the new Intra-Agency and Forestry Management Liaison Group, said while the number of trees stolen was difficult to quantify, most managers who met regularly reported problems with theft.
“Leading into winter, the problem increases dramatically,” Mr Turner said.
“People need to be aware that if they’re driving in there illegally and cutting trees down it’s likely they’re on camera.
“We had a 6-12 month period where people were going out with at night with head-torches and chainsaws and knocking over huge trees that were 150-200 years old. They were basically running a business.”
Redgums were usually targeted on public and private land.
“The biggest value for us as an industry is losing the native trees that can sometimes bear hollows – they’re extremely old and can’t be replaced,” Mr Turner said.
“Red-tailed black-cockatoos use them to nest in and it could be a very different landscape in the years to come if this keeps happening.
“People need to be aware of what they’re buying and ask where it’s come from and not support this (activity) by buying wood that’s been harvested illegally.
“It’s also quite scary to see how they’re being cut down – people could end up hurting themselves.”
Meanwhile, police issued a warning to Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula residents on Thursday to lock their sheds and secure their tools in the wake of a recent surge in reports of firewood and tool theft.
The Advertiser this week reported thieves stole five tonnes of red gum wood from a Kersbrook property.
Other thefts were recorded in Mount Torrens, Woodside and Kapunda.
– with Dixie Sulda