The owlet nightjar relies on tree hollows for shelter. Photo: Ruth Ault.
2025 is the year of the tree hollow, with Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority announcing it would be the focus on its upcoming community awareness campaign.
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The campaign will spotlight a different hollow-dependent native animal each month to emphasise the important role of tree hollows in their survival.
Goulburn Broken CMA chief executive Carl Walters said the Year of the Tree Hollow would highlight their importance in local biodiversity.
“Many native species need tree hollows, including bats, possums, gliders, owls, parrots, antechinus, ducks, rosellas and kingfishers, as well as numerous species of snakes, frogs and skinks,” he said.
“A range of hollows are vital for biodiversity. Hollows in logs and fallen trees are equally important for species such as the echidna, quoll and bandicoot and many lizards and reptiles.
The yellow-footed antechinus uses hollows for nesting, roosting and safety. Photo: Chris Tzaros.
“So dead or alive, large old indigenous trees, whether in bushland, on roadsides or in paddocks, are legally protected and vitally important for our local fauna, as once they are gone, these hundreds-of-years-old sentinels of the landscape cannot be quickly replaced.
“Large old trees are peppered with large and small hollows of varying depths and sizes, and often they have more hollows than are visible from the ground. It can take 200 or more years for a tree to form a hollow, so protecting these trees is vital.”
The year of the tree hollow follows previous successful campaigns such as the year of the wing in 2024 and the year of the frog in 2022.
The initiative is supported by the Victorian Government through the Catchment Stewardship Program.
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