Nicholls v. Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife Service and others

The Applicant appealed against the decision of the Director General of the National Wildlife Service under Section 92C of the National Park and Wildlife Act 1974, to grant a licence under Section 120 of that Act to the Forestry Commission of New South Wales to take or kill any protected fauna in the course of carrying out forestry operations within the Wingham Management Area. The Court held that the Fauna Impact Statement on the whole contained information to the extent required by Section 92D of the National Park and Wildlife Act 1974. While expressing concern for the workability of the precautionary principle, it was, the court said, “a practical approach which the court finds axiomatic in dealing with environmental assessment.”