Native wildlife in the Macleay Valley are experiencing a real estate boom with 100 new hollows being created by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in Skillion Nature Reserve and Boonanghi Nature Reserve.
Ranger at NPWS, Kath Crowe said the collaborative project between NPWS, Macleay Landcare and FAWNA NSW Inc. was creating much-needed habitat hollows in the fire-damaged national parks.
“During the Black Summer bushfires, 47 per cent of the Kempsey Shire was burnt by wildfire and many hollow-bearing trees were lost in this event,” Ms Crowe said.
“It can take hundreds of years for large tree hollows to form naturally so the loss of this habitat was devastating for native wildlife in the Macleay Valley,” she said.
“Hollows provide homes for a huge variety of birds, mammals and reptiles, including the squirrel glider, brush-tailed phascogale, powerful owl and glossy black cockatoo.”
Ms Crowe said the team was using a unique boring tool, the ‘hollowhog’, that safely and efficiently excavated hollows in living and dead trees with minimal damage to the living parts of the tree.
She said the hollows would be monitored in six months’ time for signs of occupancy, with ongoing monitoring to be undertaken by NPWS.
“Hollowhog hollows are more durable than traditional nest boxes, have superior temperature regulating qualities and can be created in a huge range of sizes and shapes to accommodate different hollow-dwelling species,” the Ranger said.
“These hollows will provide somewhere safe for threatened species like the squirrel glider to shelter and reproduce while fire-affected bushland in the local area regenerates,” she said.
