Conservation biologist Matt Stephens peers into a tree hollow he carved with the Hollowhog, a tool he invented to create new habitats for Australia’s endangered wildlife, in the forested Sun Valley, an hour west of Sydney’s downtown.
Hundreds of threatened animal species that live in tree hollows in Australia are struggling due to the loss of habitat brought on by logging and bushfires.
While nest boxes can offer a short-term fix, a hollow that is made in less than an hour by the tungsten blade of a Hollowhog can last for hundreds of years and expand in size with the tree.
‘The hollow that we carved will still be there long after I’m gone, perhaps three hundred years into the future. I can see the hollow going in. I simply find it to be very exciting,’ Stephens said.
The technology is used by state and federal government agencies as well as land care organisations, and thousands of hollows created by Hollowhog tools have been installed all over Australia as of this writing.
Stephens claims that it takes a natural hollow between 70 and 120 years to begin to form.
A conservation organisation called The Wilderness Society estimates that 303 native wildlife species in Australia depend on hollows for nesting and shelter, including 31% of native mammals and 15% of native birds.
Stephens has observed a variety of animals using a camera placed at one of the hollows, including parrots like Rainbow Lorikeets and Rosellas, marsupials like Antechinus or gliders, and even a Lace Monitor lizard peering inside.
More than a thousand hollows have been carved out of trees by arborist Eamon Dempsey using this instrument.
He said, ‘It really gave me hope that my career doesn’t have to be all about cutting down trees and that there is actually potential [to] have a more positive environmental impact.’
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