Man from Nigeria ordered to pay $1 million penalty for illegal deforestation

Oakland's City Council has imposed a substantial penalty of nearly $1m on Matthew Bernard, a Nigerian medical doctor, and his wife, for cutting down 38 legally protected trees on and around their property located on Claremont Avenue in the United States.

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The decision came after a public hearing on Tuesday, where over 20 residents urged the council to enforce Oakland's tree protection laws, citing the importance of the trees' leafy canopies for preventing wildfires, promoting public health, and ensuring environmental equity.

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According to a report by KQED, a California-based media platform, the residents' demands for action were rooted in concerns about the long-term impact of tree removal on the community.

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Matthew Bernard and his wife, Lynn Warner, had previously stated that they removed the trees from their property based on the advice of an arborist, as reported by Diaspora Tales last month.

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At the Tuesday hearing, Bernard, a Nigerian medical expert, claimed that the trees removed from his property nearly four years ago were in a state of decay, posing a hazard, and were either "dead, dying, leaning," or in "hazardous condition."

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The city, however, took a different stance, and as a result, Bernard and Warner were fined $915,135.40, with a claim placed on their property that would prevent them from developing or selling the land until the fine is paid.

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Erys Gagnez, a community tree specialist, defended the hefty fine, explaining that trees of such size cannot be readily replaced, and even with replanting efforts, it would take decades or centuries to restore the lost ecological and protective functions.

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Gagnez emphasized that the scale of the fine reflects the significant impact of the tree removal, highlighting the long-term consequences of such actions on the environment.