A Greenbank eucalypt has been estimated at 419 years old through Logan City Council’s veteran tree age testing program, making it one of the oldest known trees in the city.
For hundreds of years, trees like it have served as living wildlife shelters and rare reminders of what the region looked like before roads, houses and suburbs spread across Logan.
The veteran tree age testing program, which began in 2019, recently won the Excellence in Sustainability award at the 2026 Local Government Managers Australia Queensland Awards for Excellence.
The program is important because large old trees take decades to develop hollows used by birds, gliders, owls, microbats and insects, and once lost, that habitat cannot be quickly replaced by planting new trees.
Logan City Council senior environmental services officer Nick Swanson said the city had veteran trees more than 400 years old, predating European settlement.
“They have survived a period of extensive logging and then urban growth across the region,” Mr Swanson said.
“Because of their age, many of these trees are gnarled and have had branches broken off over the years by storms and lightning.
“These broken branches eventually form hollows and provide ideal nesting and roosting locations and protection for a range of birds and wildlife.”
Mr Swanson said the council used specialist arborist tools to estimate the age of ancient native hardwoods without causing serious harm to the trees.
“To estimate the age of trees without causing harm, arborists use innovative resistograph technology,” he said.
“A microscopic hole is drilled into the tree’s trunk to measure the resistance of the hard and soft wood of each year of growth.
“The pin hole is then sealed.”
Understanding the age of veteran trees helps identify important habitat, support long-term conservation planning and build community awareness of the value of old native trees.
Mr Swanson said Indigenous scarred trees at Eagleby Wetlands also held historical and cultural significance for the traditional custodians of the region, showing physical markers of historic Indigenous land use.
Council records list a Greenbank Eucalyptus tereticornis at 419 years old, a North Maclean Eucalyptus tereticornis at 385 years, a Glenlogan Eucalyptus tereticornis at 363 years, a Greenbank Eucalyptus microcorys at 326 years and a Cedar Grove Eucalyptus tereticornis at 323 years.
Other notable trees include “Gandalf the Great”, a large blue gum near the Logan River at North Maclean with a 2.38-metre trunk, and “Grey Ghost”, a 290-year-old blackbutt in Shailer Park about 43 metres tall.
Residents can help protect significant trees by nominating notable trees on council land for the significant tree register.
Private land trees can be nominated through the National Trust.
Property owners should check the council’s online vegetation clearing tool before pruning or removing large native trees.
Anyone with a large old native tree can send details or a photo to environment@logan.qld.gov.au.
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