In collaboration with our customer, Inland Rail and researchers from the University of Melbourne, we're developing prosthetic tree hollows for birds and mammals on the Inland Rail Project in central Victoria.
Many birds cannot build their own nests and rely on hollows that naturally form in trees over centuries, but these habitats are becoming increasingly rare. Conservationists often install nest boxes to support birds while trees regenerate, but such boxes have known shortcomings.
In response, this collaboration aims to create better designs using laser measurements of natural habitat shapes, computer modelling of novel designs, and new materials, including 3D-printed wood and mycelium, the root-like structures of mushrooms.
After further development and testing, the team installed and monitored a selection of designs in Seymour, Victoria.
