Forestry Corporation of NSW has been fined over a 2020 breach of post-bushfire logging conditions.

The forestry corporation logged hollow-bearing trees in the South Brooman State Forest near Ulladulla, which are crucial for the survival of native, threatened wildlife after bushfires.

The $15,000 fine is the largest that the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) can issue under current legislation.

The corporation has also been ordered to pay $285,600 by the Land and Environment Court for damaging critical koala habitat on the Mid North Coast near Coffs Harbour in 2018. 

EPA executive Greg Sheehy says better systems are needed to ensure compliance. 

“The requirement to retain all hollow-bearing trees was clear,” he said.

He said the corporation failed to meet expectations.

“The EPA has put them on notice that failing to meet standards is unacceptable,” he said.

Internal documents from the Natural Resources Commission, which advised the NSW Government on the impact of post-bushfire logging, has allegedly called for logging in multiple areas on the South Coast including Nowra, Taree and Narooma, to be suspended for at least three years.

NSW Environment Minister James Griffin says the government is considering the Natural Resources Commission report.

“In the meantime, the EPA has stepped up its compliance efforts pre-, during and post-harvesting to ensure FCNSW is complying with the integrated forestry operations approvals,” Mr Griffin’s spokesperson has told reporters. 

“The fact that FCNSW has been fined shows the system is working and that the EPA is holding all operators in the NSW forestry system to account.”