Forest defenders have made a complaint to Forest Practices Authority, the EPA and Premier Rockliff about a breach of the forest practices code in a logging coupe in Tasmania’s Waykaywirinu / Central Highlands. Activists from Bob Brown Foundation recorded oil spilled across the forest floor of an active logging coupe, with oil containers leaking. The containers included vessels with their lids open, while waste including spent grease cartridges was also found discarded on the forest floor

“Loggers dumping a large quantity of oil onto an 11 metre stretch is an environmental breach and it must be investigated,” said Jenny Weber, Bob Brown Foundation Campaigns Director.

“Native forests are not an industrial wasteland until the loggers move in, flatten the forests and dump their oil. They are part of the headwaters of the Nive River and provide habitat for wildlife, store carbon and protect the soils and water systems. The public deserves to know whether this logging operation is complying with the conditions that are supposed to protect Tasmania’s forests and waterways.”

“Sadly, this is not the first time that the Bob Brown Foundation has witnessed and reported oil spill in logging coupes on public land under Forestry Tasmania’s management. It appears to be a recurrent breach of their own Forest Practices Code. Besides the terrible impact that logging native forests has on our environment, Forestry Tasmania and the Forest Practices Authority are obviously not able to properly manage their operations: public native forests should immediately be removed from their ‘management’ and permanently protected,” said Jenny Weber.