By Spencer Shaw
Spring has sprung and it’s a great time to think about how you can increase the habitat on your land for our local flora and fauna. From the smallest of backyards in town to working farms there’s something we can all do to improve our own quality of life and ensure the survival of the animals and plants that have called this land home for millennia.
Planting local native plants is a great start and with over 2000 different native species to choose from on the Sunshine Coast, how could you go wrong! What’s more there are so many ways we can utilise native plants to provide direct benefits to ourselves. Create a native garden, revegetate creek banks, plant bushfood orchards, establish wind breaks, plant trees for livestock shelters and fodder, put in a firewood lot, plant timber trees, stabilise a landslip and what’s more create a healthy, happy, healing environment in which you and nature can enjoy life!
Planting local native plants in the landscape provides the habitat that is so important to the survival of the wider web of life. Local native plants not only look good but they provide food, nesting material and the ability for many animals to move through the landscape. But wait there’s more…
When re-establishing native forests from scratch it can take decades or even centuries for trees to form hollows for nesting and logs to fall to the ground that are so crucial in providing homes and food for fauna, even small branches and twigs are invaluable and crucial habitat from which small reptiles, mammals and frogs can survey their surroundings for food and to watch out for predators, or prey! The process of habitat establishment can be accelerated by placement of logs and rock piles (even old concrete slabs) in areas to be revegetated. If no logs or branches are available consider planting some sacrificial Wattle trees that can be cut down between 5-10 years to create extra ground habitat.
Nest boxes are also crucial in creating habitat for local fauna. Many birds and the majority of our arboreal mammals and reptiles require hollows in trees to nest, rest and survive. Nest boxes can be installed on poles in open areas and even on young trees 5-10 years old in some Eucalypts and Wattles, which is fantastic for accelerating habitat for wildlife, for more information visit www.hollowloghomes.com
Remember it doesn’t have to be either us or them when it comes to our local wildlife, there’s plenty to share.
Check out our website www.brushturkey.com.au for more information on our nursery, revegetation materials, educational workshops and so much more.
