State loggers admit to ‘very serious offence’ in felling a hectare of national park forest

The state government’s logging arm has admitted to clear-felling nearly 1.5 hectares of long-established national park in the region where the government has promised a Great Koala National Park.

The news comes on the heels of NSW Forestry Corporation reporting a $29 million loss in its hardwood division for 2023-24 and a productivity watchdog report that found the industry is economically unviable.

Ranger Martin Smith in Bindarri National Park. Credit: Janie Barrett

Forestry Corp and the National Parks and Wildlife Service revealed on Friday they had entered into a legally enforceable agreement worth up to $1 million over the illegal clearing of 1.44 hectares of mature gum trees in Bindarri National Park near Coffs Harbour in 2019.

The national park, which was created in 1999, adjoins the world heritage-listed Dorrigo National Park, and there are long-held plans to add it to the listing. NPWS is developing a multi-day Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk that will go through both national parks.

The cleared area was on the border between a flooded gum plantation in Orara West State Forest and the national park. It included some of the former plantation.

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water secretary Anthony Lean said in a statement that it was a “very serious offence”, but he defended a decision not to prosecute.

Bangalore Falls in Bindarri National Park.Credit: Janie Barrett

“The deed imposes significant obligations on Forestry Corporation to ensure we get a better outcome than would have been secured through litigation,” Lean said.

This includes Forestry Corp’s agreement to pay up to $495,000 to fund, restore and remediate the harvested area over the next 10 years. The state-owned business will also pay $500,000 to NPWS for purchasing native forest or to reserve an agreed area of state forest as national park.

Forestry Corp said in a statement that it regretted and apologised for the incident, which it said occurred because the area was incorrectly mapped in 2018. It uses selective harvesting in native forests, but plantations are clear-felled.

The area was replanted with native plantation trees before Forestry Corp staff identified the error in 2022 and notified NPWS. The event did not become public until Friday.

NPWS manager Coffs Coast area, Glenn Storrie, takes in Bindarri National Park.Credit: Janie Barrett

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe and Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty declined to comment.

Greens MP Sue Higginson said she was “shocked and aghast” at the news, the “excuses” made by Forestry Corp and the timing of the announcement the day before the Christmas shutdown.

“It’s a criminal act to damage the public protected area network. Can you imagine if it was two private landowners? Where is the prosecution? Where is the accountability?” Higginson said.

The NSW Land and Environment Court this year found Forestry Corp had “a significant history of unlawfully carrying out forestry operations” and that it needed to be deterred from “future criminality”. In a separate case, Forestry Corp is awaiting sentencing for illegal clearing in Wild Cattle Creek, now part of the Great Koala National Park assessment area.

Higginson said it was a myth to think that clearing at the boundary of the national park was less significant because maintaining the integrity of the edges – known scientifically as “ecotones” or areas of steep transition between ecological communities – was considered highly important by ecologists to protect the broader area.

The statement from NPWS said the clear-felling of the site had caused broader damage, such as weed invasion.

NSW Forestry Corp consistently makes a loss in its hardwood division, which includes native forests and plantations of native trees. It released its 2023-24 annual report a week ago, revealing a $9 million loss overall and a $29 million loss in the hardwood division.

A spokesman said the Forestry Corporation provided services such as fire mitigation and firefighting, management of pests and weeds, conservation, tourism and road access that were not fully funded by the government.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, in a report obtained by the ABC through freedom of information laws, has recommended the government consider shutting down the native forest logging industry after 2028 unless it can be made economically viable by then.

The tribunal found Forestry Corp was supplying native timber to sawmills for a delivery charge below the cost of harvesting and hauling that timber alone. A Forestry Corp spokesman said it would adopt IPART’s recommendations for improving economic efficiency.

Victoria and Western Australia have ended native logging, leaving NSW and Tasmania as the only states with large public forestry industries.

The Minns government was elected on a promise to create the Great Koala National Park in the Mid North Coast region. This will include 140,000 hectares of existing national parks, including Bindarri, and up to 176,000 hectares of state forest.

Scientists say expanding the protected areas would help endangered species, including greater gliders and up to 12,000 koalas, withstand climate change. The park is expected to cause job losses in forestry and timber processing but also provide a boon for tourism.

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