Identification of aboriginal scar/scarred and toe hole trees

Nature Talk
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Hi Folks,
We’re currently working on a project in the wetlands of Victoria, primarily around the Boort area, focusing on the environmental damage caused by duck shooters during the hunting season. Unfortunately, over 90% of the camps we monitor involve illegal tree cutting for firewood. We document these incidents and report them to the relevant authorities.

Among the trees being cut are often Aboriginal scar trees or toe-hole trees, which are not always easy to identify in the field. We’re looking for people with expertise in identifying these culturally significant trees—ideally those who may be available to review photos and help us confirm their status in real time, so we can promptly alert the appropriate authorities.

If anyone here has that experience or can connect us with someone who does, we’d greatly appreciate your support.

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welcome to the forum

when you say

do you mean identify whether each tree is or isn’t a scar/toe-hole tree, or identify the species of each tree?

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Thank you.
Yes whether each tree is or isn’t a scar/toe-hole tree. Would be a bonus if the species get identified too.

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for ID of species, then uploading them directly to iNaturalist is the way to go (do you have an account there?)

as for scar tree ID, I think your best bet would be to approach an organisation like the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council

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Hi Markus,
I have experience identifying scar trees in the field and could assist with photo reviews. I also develop automated tools, we could explore a solution to flag potential scar trees using software to speed things up. Let me know if that sounds useful.

You can reach out to me on my email here

Colin

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