In July, crucial nesting habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot (Lathamus discolor) was illegally cut down for firewood in Tasmania. Now a group of Victorian arborists have volunteered their services in a bid to rectify the situation.
A scientist from the Australian National University came across a group of men felling trees for firewood in Buckland – an act which may carry heavy penalties under national environment laws.
The destroyed trees contained nesting hollows used by the parrot – of which there are only around 2,000 left in the wild.
Swift parrots, similar to the orange-bellied parrot, spend winter on the Australian mainland before returning to Tasmania for the spring mating season.
To support swift parrot populations, Green Army volunteers have been building hundreds of nest boxes, but the loss of five old-growth trees is an added setback for the beleaguered species.
A novel solution has been proposed by the Victorian Tree Industry Organisation (VTIO), based on a carving method developed by a senior biodiversity officer from Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victor Huxley.
Hurley explained the carving technique to ABC News, which requires specific knowledge of arbory and the use of power tools.
“We go to a lot of care to make sure we only remove about 10 to 20 per cent of the circumference of the bark at any point,” he said.
“It is less damage than if you lost a branch from a tree … the wounds heal over.”
The development of the technique is significant due to the sheer number of native species that rely on tree hollows to survive.
“We have one of the highest proportions of cavity-dependent birds and mammals of anywhere in the world so the loss of large hollow-bearing trees is recognised as a threatening process in nearly all states in Australia,” Hurley said.
20 volunteers from the VTIO are expected to travel to Buckland to conduct the hollow-carving operation.
Correction: This article was originally accompanied by an image of two musk lorikeets. This has been corrected to the current image.