State loggers admit to clear-felling hectare of national park forest

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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 details did not become public until on 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 release of detail, 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 found 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.

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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 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 government.

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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 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 to also provide a boon for tourism in the region.

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