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.
