Authorities are cracking down on illegal firewood operators as living costs, an icy winter and a supply gap push Victorians to seek out cheap heat.
Firewood thieves damaged or destroyed more than 9200 native trees, clearing roughly 462 hectares of public land, or more than 178 Melbourne Cricket Grounds in 2023.
The practice often destroys hollow-bearing habitat trees and those of Indigenous cultural significance such as scar trees.
“Illegal firewood theft is devastating our local parks, forests, wildlife and cultural heritage," Parks Victoria's senior manager enforcement Mark Breguet said on Wednesday.
The Conservation Regulator and Parks Victoria have launched Taskforce Ironbark to target commercial firewood operators and inform consumers, who often unwittingly buy illegally-sourced firewood from online marketplaces, roadside stalls and through word-of-mouth.
“Native trees are being stolen from Victoria’s forests and parks faster than they can be replaced, leaving our native birds, reptiles, and small mammals without crucial habitat," taskforce manager Brady Childs said.
Officers are patrolling public land and using surveillance and community reports to catch commercial firewood thieves with their contraband.
The Conservation Regulator has noted a rapid rise in firewood-related damage to public land amid living-cost pressures and poor public awareness.
It is urging firewood consumers to question where their wood comes from, ask for a tax receipt and, if the wood is below market price, ask why.
It's the first winter since Victoria's native timber harvesting industry was closed in January, while state-owned logging company VicForests - which previously managed commercial firewood supply from public forests - was officially shut-down on June 30.
Personal firewood collection is allowed from designated areas in autumn and spring, and the Forest Fire Management Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action still deliver some firewood for community use.
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