The City of Greater Geelong has joined with St Leonards Men's Shed, St Leonards Primary School, and Bellarine Land Care, to create habitats for our native fauna at Lake Lorne in Drysdale.
We have developed a system for creating hollows, nesting boxes and coronation cuts that look natural to native animals, while also leaving the tree in such a way that the public can see that it has been cut for a specific purpose.
By creating different types of hollows, and monitoring with a wildlife camera, inhabitants of the tree are identified, and therefore, using specific hollows will attract specific animals such as micro-bats or different species of birds.
The City has attended seminars on habitat creation as a part of ourUrban Forest Strategy which expands the ideas and sets out the delivery of the One Planet principles, particularly Land Use and Wildlife.
Guy Wilson-Browne - Director of City Services
It is a goal of the City's Urban Forest Strategy to provide habitat for wildlife and we felt it was time to start creating some hollows and habitat that was not detrimental to the structure of the tree, and is suitable for fauna to inhabit.
With urban arboriculture becoming common place in the public realm, we are finding that hollows are being removed as they are deemed a tree defect, and a concern for the structural integrity of the tree. This has seen a decline in habitat for hollow inhabiting fauna in urban areas.
By working with our partners we have been able to improve and enhance the project, and the environmental benefit that the trees contribute to the urban forest has increased.
