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Dead trees and wood

Council will retain dead standing trees for habitat in parks, reserves or nature strips where possible, to ensure there is habitat for our local wildlife in the long term.

Can I remove dead wood?

It is illegal to remove dead trees, logs and branches from bushland reserves without permission from Council. 

Due to the decline in shelter for wildlife, we encourage leaving what you may consider to be dead wood in place to assist indigenous wildlife in the area, unless the dead wood is considered to be dangerous.

Benefits of retaining dead wood

Dead wood, whether lying on the ground or still standing, provides precious habitat. 

  • Native birds and mammals rely on tree hollows and dead wood for shelter from predators and for breeding purposes. 
  • Insects such as the stag beetle rely on dead wood as a food source. In turn, many birds, reptiles and mammals need insects for survival. 
  • Understorey species such as fungi, grasses, shrubs, etc. rely on decomposed wood to contribute to growth and nutrient cycles 

Trees bearing hollows provide an array of housing and shelter for our local native wildlife. Hollows often form when the centre of a tree limb rots away due to fungal or termite activity - this is more common in old or dead trees and the process can take many hundreds of years, making hollow bearing trees especially valuable. 

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