A New South Wales company has been convicted and fined $120,000 for illegally clearing native vegetation from West Montagu, near Smithton, in the state’s far north-west.
516 BHP Pty Ltd appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court after an extensive Forest Practices Authority (FPA) investigation revealed the company had cleared and converted almost 20 hectares of land for agricultural purposes without proper authorisation.
FPA’s Chief Forest Practices Officer Anne Chuter said the offences involved clearing 6.8 hectares of a threatened native vegetation wetland and 12.8 hectares of melaleuca forest.
“The decision of the Magistrates Court sends a clear message about the serious nature of these offences,” Chuter said.
“The forest practices system provides a process for identifying and considering environmental and other sensitive values.”
Chuter stressed the importance for landowners to understand and comply with regulations before starting any clearing activities by checking the rules on the FPA’s website.
“This unlawful impact on the wetland, a sensitive and important ecosystem, would have been avoided if the forest practices process had been followed,” she said.
