Many benefits from paddock trees

Paddock trees bring many benefits for landholders, wildlife and the wider community.

They can reduce stress on stock by providing shelter from wind, heat and cold. Stress from heat and cold can limit weight gains in cattle and reduce milk production.

Birds, sugar gliders, lizards and bats that live in paddock trees feed on large numbers of pest insects.

Many animals such as birds and koalas use large, old trees for resting, feeding, protection from predators and stepping stones to larger patches of bush. Tree hollows, including dead trees, are used for resting and nesting by gliders and birds such as owls and glossy black cockatoos.

Large branches provide resting places for koalas, while fallen branches provide habitat for small ground dwelling animals such as reptiles.

Some of the big old native trees on the Tweed Coast include tallowwood, forest red gum, blackbutt, swamp mahogany, figs and sheoaks. Some of these trees are hundreds of years old and cannot be replaced in a person’s lifetime.

Native vegetation and individual native plants have resilience — the ability to regenerate after disturbance. This has evolved over thousands, even millions, of years as a response to disturbances such as landslip, flood, grazing, drought and fire.

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