By Tyler Wright
Olinda locals worried about the future of a beloved English Oak tree which fell on Thursday 3 November need not be worried, with one local organisation putting the tree’s timber to good use.
Wandin man David Ferrier, who formed Treasuring our Trees after 2021’s 9 June storm event in the Yarra Ranges, is salvaging material from the fallen Oak to create a project for the Hills community, with the hopes of turning it into furniture or a sustainable garden project for local schools.
“When I assessed the Oak [on Thursday 3 November], I thought, ‘oh my god, I have to salvage some of these materials and make sure that they end up at Olinda Primary School as a cabinet for tables or feature furniture…so that this big, beautiful 100 plus, 110, 120 year old oak tree that’s survived several generations of families and tourists…we’re motivated to make sure that materials are repurposed into something magnificent in the community.
We don’t know what that will be exactly yet, but something like a community project or a school and kindergarten project comes to mind immediately.”
David said Treasuring our Trees has salvaged between 1500 and 2000 logs since June 2021 and is working with 18 primary schools and two secondary schools, sculptors, artists and craftsmen to create tools and spaces for the community.
“Another example of repurposing these materials is hollow logs back into the school…children can monitor sugargliders or ring tail possums, or whatever might be habitating in these hollow logs,” David said.
“Again, it’s another level of education for children, connecting with biodiversity and understand how important it is to care and nourish the land in our community”
Treasuring our Trees is currently working on multiple community projects, including supplying materials for a domestic violence mural at Japara Community House in Kilsyth, and setting up woodworking workshops for families and children with disabilities.
“We’ve created a database, so we record what species we salvaged, the exact location where it came from, the the diameter of each log… we’ve got 55 different categories that we submit information about, some of it might be weather conditions leading up to an event, rainfall, which direction the tree fell, what day.
“Which is incredibly valuable, because we don’t know anyone who’s collecting this sort of data.”
Treasuring our Trees is hoping to build five primary school projects within the next seven months, with the organisation’s processing site in Pakenham Upper and showroom in Lilydale; where there will a project launch on Saturday 3 December.
“It’s quite incredible. Every day, we’ve got to pinch ourselves to remember how far we’ve come in what’s been 16 months.”
