Prosecution has commenced for what is likely to be the biggest case ever brought against Forestry Corporation NSW (FCNSW). But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

In August 2023, we submitted our first breach report exposing unlawful logging of critical greater glider habitat in Tallaganda State Forest. This triggered three consecutive Stop Work Orders and kicked off our campaign to save the endangered greater glider, one den tree at a time.

Two years later, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) released a short media statement announcing that a whopping 29 charges have been filed in the Land and Environment Court against FCNSW for illegal logging in Tallaganda State Forest.

Most of the charges relate to FCNSW’s failure to conduct competent greater glider surveys - whereby searches for this nocturnal marsupial were being done during the day - and the agency’s destruction of greater glider habitat across seven compartments in Tallaganda.

The maximum penalty for these charges is in the millions, which would make it the largest prosecution the EPA has ever brought against FCNSW. Presently, the biggest fine the Corporation has received is $360,000, for two charges. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the public purse ends up paying these fines.

With 43 previous and 9 other open investigations into unlawful activity, it appears FCNSW cannot survive without flouting environmental rules. Worse, these are just the investigations brought to the attention of the EPA, mostly by the community, and only a fraction of them have been pursued. It is likely there are countless cases of illegal logging that are never uncovered or prosecuted.

At this point, breaking the law seems to have become a systemic part of FCNSW’s business model. This pattern of illegal behaviour has continued under the oversight of the present NSW Government which has been in office for two years without attempting to reform a failed regulatory system. 

Environmental protection is being sacrificed to prop up uneconomic and unsustainable logging. It is time for native forest logging to end and for the senior government shareholder, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, to replace FCNSW so that the habitat and integrity of our NSW state forests can be protected and restored.

Thank you to everyone who sent a letter to the EPA demanding that the agency pursue this prosecution - you made a big impact!