In short:
People are cutting down dead and alive trees in native forests illegally for use as firewood.
The trees being targeted provide habitat for threatened species, including the red-tailed black cockatoo.
What’s next?
The National Parks and Wildlife Service, plantation owners, councils, police and Victorian authorities are targeting the practice.
Forestry plantation owners in South Australia’s South East have reported red gum trees that are more than 100 years old being cut down illegally amid a crackdown on firewood theft.
The state’s National Parks and Wildlife Service has been working with police, local councils and the Victorian Conservation Regulator to target the illegal taking of firewood from parks and reserves.
National Parks and Wildlife Service Limestone Coast senior ranger Kieran Gosden said the impacts of firewood theft, particularly the felling of red gums, were significant on threatened and endangered species.
“If one of those trees was cut down and taken away, it’s going to take 70 to 100 years to even bring that back for the bird that’s lost their home,” she said.
She said it could be a home for many different insects and other species of animals as well.
“What some people may see as dead wood or even fuel on the ground is actually shelter for mammals and birds,” she said.
“In South Australia, those hollow nesting endangered species like the red-tailed black cockatoo rely on those trees, but it goes right down to things like echidnas and small reptiles as well.”
The crime has been linked with cost-of-living pressures, particularly around rising heating costs.
Safety concerns
One Forty One silviculture manager Adrian Lynch said native forest managed by the company had been targeted, including trees that were more than a century old.
He said felling the trees also posed a safety risk for the perpetrators.
“When you see how some of them get cut down it is scary to think how they did it,” he said.
“I’m always worried we’re going to find someone out in the bush under a tree, and it’s not something we want.”
Those found guilty of taking wood face fines of up to $10,000 or imprisonment for two years, plus the seizure of their equipment.
Six people have been fined so far this season, each having taken about a tonne of wood.
“It might not sound like a lot, but the people have made quite big impacts on the forests,” Ms Gosden said.
Difficult to monitor forests
Some of the wood taken was for personal use while some was sold on.
“They’re selling that wood, from information we’ve got from SA Police, to fuel other criminal activity as well,” Ms Gosden said.
Rangers and a trail camera network have been used to monitor forests in areas managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
But Mr Lynch said for private operators, who managed large areas of native vegetation, it was difficult to find and catch those responsible.
“We don’t have people out there all the time,” he said.
“We rely on contractors and the public to let us know what’s happening.”
Mr Lynch said the company had cameras that could be used to monitor hot spots, but it was difficult to catch people in the act.
Buyers urged to ask questions
Ms Gosden encouraged people to ask people selling firewood where it came from, if they could get a receipt and why it was so cheap.
“If they can’t answer these sorts of questions, it’s probably being obtained illegally,” she said.
“You can look into council roadside permits, depending on which council are you live in as well as local wood merchants.
“If you do a little research, you can find people doing the right thing.”
Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Friday