Why is Christchurch's city council leaving dying trees in Hagley Park?
These trees in Hagley Park will be left to rot, to show the ecological advantage of dead trees. A trio of dying trees in Christchurchs biggest park will keep standing, to let locals catch a glimpse of an often unseen part of the circle of life. The city council will be leaving two dying European ash trees and an oak, which sit by a walking path in South Hagley Park, to rot and become food and homes for native bugs and birds. Head arborist Toby Chapman said they were part of a group of six dying trees due to be removed anyway. [I thought] this was a great way of exposing the public to a different way of doing things, and showing theres value in trees even when theyre dying.  READ MORE:  * Dozens of miniature schnauzers descend on popular Christchurch dog park  * Christchurch riverbank no-mow trial to become permanent  * We need to bring nature and people  back to the red zone    While letting trees live out their natural life cycles is a regular feature in regional parks and places like the Styx Mill Conservation Reserve, it did not usually happen in amenity parks like Hagley. Chapman said the dying trees had great ecological value, were a natural part of a forests life cycle. They support decomposers like fungi, bacteria and insects, which are a key food source for birds.  As they broke down, they also supported bird life in other ways, he said. Birds like kingfishers, grey teal and paradise ducks nest in their cavities. Ive also heard from a local birdwatcher there are some German owls in Hagley Park too.  JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff Temporary signage on one of the trees. Twenty-four per cent of New Zealands native birds like to call decaying tree cavities home, and 11 per cent will only nest in them. Chapman said locals could rest assured he would be checking in on the trees, and monitoring and pruning them to make sure they were safe. I know people do see dead trees and get concerned. JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff The dying trees in Hagley Park will be pruned and monitored to make sure they pose no risk. The ones in Hagley Park will be there for maybe a year. They are close to a path, so they will be taken down before they decay completely.  New signage to let passers-by know what was going on is also under development. There were also no plans at this stage for this to become standard practice in Christchurchs amenity parks, Chapman said. Stuff.co.nz Petr Polak says more people are taking up slacklining in Christchurch city, but do not know how to protect the trees. While some might think dying trees were an eyesore, Chapman disagreed. I thought this was a good chance to do something different and interesting. There are plenty of manicured trees about, but we dont always cater to this part of the life cycle in our amenity parks.