Firewood collection — illegal and legalFirewood collection — illegal and legal

Firewood collection – illegal and legal

Firewood collection is a threat to nesting and foraging habitat in Tasmania and to foraging habitat on mainland Australia. Trees targeted by firewood collectors are often those most valuable to the Swift Parrot, being large, mature forage trees or trees with suitable nesting hollows. Registered firewood suppliers operate in accordance with industry codes of practice or are formally regulated, which typically includes provisions to not collect from areas that might have an impact on threatened species. However, there is a large, but unquantified unregulated and illegal harvest of firewood in Tasmania, and these collectors are impacting on Swift Parrot habitat. In some areas the local impacts of illegal firewood harvesting can be severe. For example, approximately one third of known nest trees have been illegally felled for firewood at one breeding site (Stojanovic, D., unpublished data).