A Te Awamutu milling company and one of its directors has been fined $12,000 for illegally milling indigenous forests.
The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry says Land Milling Limited and director Nicholas Ashmore pleaded guilty to charges relating to logging timber that was not harvested in accordance with an approved annual logging plan.
The ministry says they also failed to provide quarterly sawmilling records as required by the regulations.
MAF compliance manager Dean Winter says the prosecution in the Hamilton District Court sends a strong message to others who harvest more native trees than they are entitled to.
