The City of Greater Geelong is calling for community members to help identify tree hollows that could be suitable for animal nesting.
The Hollow Hunt project aims to build a clearer picture of tree hollow resources across our city with the help of community members.
Community members don’t need any special skills or equipment to get involved. If you have spotted a hollow, all you need is a smart phone to snap a photo and record your findings via the online form.
All the tree hollows can be viewed on the Hollow Hunt map at the Geelong Data Exchange, the City’s public open data platform.
Each animal has its own requirements in terms of hollow size, shape, depth and location.
The following list of locations have old-growth trees that are good places to start looking:
- Hovells Creek, Lara
- Barwon River Trails, Newtown, Highton, Belmont and Fyansford
- Balyang Sanctuary, Newtown
- Indented Head Woodland Nature Reserve
- Basin Reserve, Drysdale
- Dooliebeal Reserve, Armstrong Creek
- Kingston Park, Ocean Grove
- Yellow Gums Reserve, Ocean Grove (off Yellow Gums Drive)
- Barwon Heads Village Park.
Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan
Tree hollows can be found in streets, parks and reserves right across Greater Geelong – from Hovells Creek at Lara, to the banks of the Barwon River at Fyansford, and the beautiful nature reserves on the Bellarine. So many native birds, mammals and reptiles rely on tree hollows including bats, frogs, skinks, possums, gliders, owls, parrots, rosellas, cockatoos and kookaburras.
Environment Chair Jim Mason
This project will help the City to understand the importance of tree hollows and plan for the future of native wildlife. We need to take action today because it can take 100 years or more for a tree hollow to form. We’d love to see local citizen scientists involved in this project. It’s a great example of how we’re using smart technology to support data-driven decisions.
