An innovative environmental initiative is providing crucial nesting sites and shelter for native fauna in Lake Macquarie.
The Hollow Augmentation Program accelerates the natural process of hollows forming in trees by boring cavities into eucalypts or other native species.
Lake Macquarie Landcare Coordinator Simon Lubinski said the process replicated the natural formation of hollows in many trees, including healthy, dying or dead specimens.
"Tree hollows can take more than 100 years to form," Mr Lubinski said.
"We don't always have trees that age in and around suburbia, so this is an opportunity to replicate that process in a matter of minutes."
Australia is home to an estimated 300-plus native species that rely on tree hollows for shelter, nesting and socialisation.
"Beyond providing shelter, the hollows play a vital role in supporting the broader health of local ecosystems," Mr Lubinski said.
A specialised tool called a HollowHog is used to create the hollows. It drills a small opening on the host tree's trunk, then bore a much larger cavity up to 60cm deep and wide inside its heartwood.
"It's a bit like keyhole surgery – it's a relatively narrow opening, which a lot of our native fauna prefers, but it opens up into an area large enough for birds or mammals to nest and for young to grow," Mr Lubinski said.
"The trees are carefully selected to ensure we're not compromising their integrity, and most of the boring is done in the heartwood core of a tree's trunk, consisting of dead cells."
Hollows have so far been created in trees near the Landcare and Sustainable Living Centre, umali barai-ku at Teralba, with plans underway to expand the program throughout the city.
Further hollows will be added to trees at a Kahibah Landcare site this weekend.
"We're planning to make this a core part of our Landcare program," Mr Lubinski said.
"That means we'll be putting in hollows at different Landcare sites right across Lake Mac."
Regular monitoring of the Teralba trees will gauge the success of the new hollows as spring progresses.
