A NSW Auditor General’s report tabled this week in NSW parliament titled Regulation of public native forestry has highlighted issues within the Forestry Corporation (FCNSW). FCNSW manages approximately two million hectares of native forests and plantations. Around half the area of native forests is permanently set aside for conservation. Source: Timberbiz
This audit assessed how effectively Forestry Corporation of NSW manages its public native forestry activities to ensure compliance, and how effectively the Environment Protection Authority regulates these activities.
The report found that while FCNSW undertakes monitoring of its contractors, it does not do so consistently and does not target its monitoring activities on a risk basis.
“FCNSW staff are advised to increase the amount of supervision for new or less experienced contractors, higher-risk sites, and contractors who have previously had poor quality assurance assessment results,” the report said.
The report also stated that the frequency of contractor supervision is inconsistent and is not tied to the contractor’s past performance, meaning that monitoring resources are not necessarily being targeted at the areas of highest risk.
FCNSW has largely fulfilled mandatory Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOA) training requirements but has not yet trained other staff who would also benefit from the training.
Contractor compliance appears to be improving, but there are gaps and inconsistencies in FCNSW’s documentation, and it is not measuring its overall compliance to determine how it is tracking against its target.
The report also said that the EPA undertakes proactive inspections of Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOA) harvesting operations on a risk basis. However, it does not assess the risk at harvest sites covered by other IFOAs.
Most EPA compliance staff have received basic training, but few have received more advanced training required to effectively undertake forestry inspections.
Some EPA offices do not have the necessary equipment to undertake forestry inspections.
The report said that EPA staff have basic training in forestry matters, but few staff have the more advanced training required to effectively undertake forestry inspections.
In addition, not all EPA officers have access to the technology required to undertake forestry inspections, such as internet-enabled tablets and specialised tapes for measuring tree diameter. This limits the EPA’s ability to determine the level of compliance with regulations and respond effectively to instances of environmental harm in relation to public native forestry.
The report has made recommendation to FCNSW to improve:
- staff training
- consistency of compliance reviews and data capture
- targeting of compliance activities
- measurement of performance.
The report also made recommendations to the EPA which aim to improve:
- risk assessments
- staff training
- staff equipment.
In a statement FCNSW said that it accepts the recommendations of the NSW Audit Office and is committed to making continued improvements to operations where necessary.
The statement said: “Our staff care passionately about the forests they work in and, over the last three years, we have significantly increased our efforts around compliance. This has included investment in technology solutions, putting more staff on the ground and a regular program of internal audits to supplement the external audits undertaken by our third-party certifier and the EPA as the regulator. We will work through the recommendations from the Audit Office to action all opportunities available to further improve our processes.”
You can download the report here.
