Historic Heritage Trees in the Red Gum Parks between Tocumwal and Swan Hill in the Riverina Bioregion of Southern Inland New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

Because of their long lifespan, trees can be a form of living cultural heritage. Culturally modified trees (CMTs) are tangible and spatially precise evidence of past methods of resource use and land management, illustrating how humans have interacted with and to varying extents shaped their local environment. Conservation reserves can be significant repositories of CMTs that have been lost from elsewhere in the landscape. This study aimed to document the types of historic heritage trees (historic-era CMT) occurring in the conservation reserves of an area in southern inland New South Wales, Australia, and to identify any threats. In total, 152 historic heritage trees dating from the 1860s–1990s were recorded. Twelve different CMT types are described, representing a variety of historical themes including the paddle steamer shipping industry, forestry, local land settlement and water resource management. Threats to the trees, in addition to their inevitable ageing and death, include fire, flood, river regulation, vandalism, road maintenance work, boundary clearing and illegal felling for firewood. This study provides an example of the diversity of historic heritage trees to be found in Australian conservation reserves and highlights how these trees can contribute to the appreciation of these reserves as historical cultural landscapes. There is an urgent need to conserve CMTs as well as the information relating to how they were used and what they represent before their cultural heritage features or the trees themselves are lost.