4 June 2026
Last weekend, Project Platypus and Trust for Nature brought together landholders, conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts for a hands-on tree hollow workshop in Moyston. This event was part of the ongoing Fire Recovery Project working to support wildlife in the wake of the 2025 bushfires.
Tree hollows are among the most critical yet hardest-to-replace habitat features in Australian bushland. Providing shelter and nesting sites for a wide range of native species, from possums and gliders to owls and parrots, they can take decades or even centuries to form naturally. When fire sweeps through a landscape, these irreplaceable features are often lost, leaving hollow-dependent species without homes at exactly the moment they need them most. The workshop brought this challenge into sharp focus, with ecologist Elia Pirtle from Project Platypus presenting on the ecology of tree hollows and the breadth of species that depend on them for survival.
A highlight of the day was a showcase by Nils Karlsson, climbing arborist and hollow builder from Calypto Hollows. Nils demonstrated his hand-carved hollows and introduced participants to the 'Hollow Hog', an innovative tool being used to carve functional hollows directly into standing trees. Watching Nils ascend high into the canopy to install hollows in real time gave participants a vivid sense of both the skill involved and the immediate difference this kind of intervention can make in a fire-affected landscape.
Participants also rolled up their sleeves to assemble log boxes, artificial hollows that can be rapidly deployed to provide immediate habitat for vulnerable species. In the afternoon, the group travelled to a nearby conservation property impacted by the 2025 Grampians fires, where they explored techniques for identifying and monitoring natural hollows before observing a live log hollow installation demonstration. Seeing these methods applied in a real, fire-scarred landscape underscored the urgency and importance of active habitat restoration.
The workshop is one component of the broader Fire Recovery Project, which is working with fire-affected landholders across the region to understand how wildlife is responding after fire and to guide on-ground recovery actions. By building practical skills and connecting people with proven restoration techniques, the project is helping to ensure that hollow-dependent species have a better chance of returning to, and thriving in, the landscapes they call home. The workshop was jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Victoria under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement.
Bronte Heron
Communications and Events Officer