Rob de Fegely

A LEADING Australian forestry expert has resigned from Bendigo Bank over its policy not to support the harvesting of native forest. Rob de Fegely, who has had many senior roles in his 40-year career in forestry, has resigned from the board of his local Community Bank due to its parent Bendigo Bank’s policy of not supporting native forest harvesting. Mr de Fegely, a director of Margules Groome Consulting, chair of Sustainable Timber Tasmania and a non-executive director of Forestry Corporation of NSW, emphasised these were his personal views and not those of any of the organisations he works for. “Despite numerous exchanges with the chief executive, Marnie Baker, and the head of corporate affairs and ESG, they have not provided any justification for their policy, which is contrary to the United Nationals International Panel on Climate Change recommendations for managed forests,” he said.