Macleay Landcare encourages property owners to leave their trees and not pile them up and then burn them.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Property owners often chop down dead trees, these and fallen trees are often burnt in the interest of tidying up. Dead or fallen trees are also collected for firewood.
The removal of dead and fallen trees has the following knock on effects on the environment:
- Destroying possible nesting sites for numerous native fauna species. Within NSW about 120 vertebrate species use tree hollows and most can utilise dead trees as nest sites. Indian Myna birds are taking over traditional nesting site, and so the more hollowed trees the better.
- Burning fallen dead wood removes important habitat for a suite of invertebrate species, insects and microbial species, including fungi, that are dependent on decaying wood for their survival. These species play an important role in recycling nutrients in forest and woodland ecosystems.
- Removal of dead wood severely impacts on remnant patches of woodland.
- Burning releases carbon instantly to the atmosphere that would otherwise take a long time to release - this is important given climate change. Large amounts of CO2 could be averted by stopping burning dead trees.
The Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, has the “Removal of dead wood and dead trees” as a key threatening process in Schedule 4 of the Act. Check out: https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/d…/DeadwoodRemovalKtp.htm
Of course, there are two sides to any argument. The negatives of leaving dead and fallen trees include disruption to cultivation and that vermin may also like the habitat, but the advantages to the environment far out way the negatives.
Planting trees is also a great idea for many reasons.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Macleay Argus newsletter here.
Also making the news: