General News
22 July, 2024
Firewood thiefs targeted
The silent and devastating toll of firewood theft from Victoria’s forests and parks has been revealed as public land authorities announce a crackdown on escalating illegal firewood take and habitat destruction. In 2023 alone, firewood thieves...
The silent and devastating toll of firewood theft from Victoria’s forests and parks has been revealed as public land authorities announce a crackdown on escalating illegal firewood take and habitat destruction.
In 2023 alone, firewood thieves damaged or destroyed more than 9200 native trees or cleared roughly 462 hectares, approximately 178.5 MCGs worth of public land in Victoria, with much of the stolen wood sold on to unsuspecting Victorians by illegal firewood operators.
The Conservation Regulator and Parks Victoria have launched Taskforce Ironbark, a joint state-wide initiative targeting illegal commercial firewood removal from public land and empowering Victorian firewood consumers to make choices which help protect forests and native wildlife.
Many of the trees targeted by thieves are large, old, slow-growing species that are unlikely to recover or be replenished in this generation or the next, and their illegal felling directly risks the survival of some of our most threatened native species, including the red-tailed black cockatoo and the brush-tailed phascogale, who rely on hollows in both standing and fallen trees for habitat.
Victoria is also rich with Aboriginal cultural heritage and only a small percentage of historical sites have been recorded. Firewood theft has serious potential to damage Aboriginal scarred trees, and once gone, these important cultural representations and reminders of Indigenous land use practices are lost forever.
Authorised Officers are conducting targeted patrols across public land and using intelligence-gathering methods, such as concealed cameras and community reports, to catch commercial firewood thieves.
Last year, the Conservation Regulator and Parks Victoria issued 130 infringement notices and laid more than 220 charges related to habitat destruction and the illegal cut and take of firewood from forests and parks.
In Victoria, it is illegal to cut and take timber from public land without authorisation and offenders face maximum penalties of more than $9879 and/or 12 months in prison for each charge. Chainsaws, trailers, and vehicles used in the offending can also be seized.
The community can help by reporting suspicious sellers or firewood theft from public land to 136 186.
For more information on responsible sourcing of firewood, visit www.vic.gov.au/sourcing-firewood