Is it worth saving dead trees?  Absolutely!

We live in an age of tidyness, a time in human history when it seems to be the dominant paradigm to clean up whatever we deem to be out of order, or messy looking.

But nature isn’t tidy, at least not as we perceive her. She doesn’t conform to the western human domestication model that requires everything to be arranged according to some glossy magazine article.

Especially in winter, It may be tempting to use fallen timber for firewood and to ‘clean up’ the understory but this untidyness serves essential ecosystem functions.  Fallen timber stabilises soil, reduces erosion, and creates a protected microclimate where small animals can thrive, nutrients collect, and seedlings can gain a foothold protected from grazing and the elements. This is the home where fungi thrives and forms massive underground networks.

And so we think this publication produced for farmers applies equally to those of us who love the bush and biodiversity in urban areas.  Munibung Hill has her fair share of old trees, limbs falling to the ground leaving essential hollows for nesting birds and mammals.  We expect that Council will adopt these protection guidelines as part of the overall plan to protect Munibung Hill, not only for future human generations, but future generations of non-human beings.